ASTANA – War-torn Afghanistan, now led by the Taliban, is in desperate need of funding. The radical group is seizing every opportunity to secure not only financial support but also major infrastructure projects that could help rebuild the country.
In late May, a delegation of Taliban representatives, led by Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the Minister of Trade and Industry, visited Kazakhstan to attend the Astana International Forum (AIF). During the summit, they spoke with The Times of Central Asia, discussing their ambitions and plans.
It was their first participation in the prominent forum, made possible by Kazakhstan’s 2024 decision to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations. Since then, Kazakhstani political and business leaders have traveled to Kabul on several occasions aiming to establish closer relations with the Islamic Emirate.
Image: TCA, Nikola Mikovic
Most recently, during a meeting with Azizi, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the need to strengthen political ties with Afghanistan. The economy, however, seems to play an equally important role in this relationship, with Astana aiming to increase its bilateral trade volume with Afghanistan to $3 billion in the coming years.
Kazakhstan is also eyeing investing $500 million in the construction of the 115-kilometer (71 miles) Turgundi–Herat railway line, a section of the rail corridor linking Turgundi in the north of Afghanistan and Spin Boldak on the country’s border with Pakistan. The route effectively connects Central and South Asia via Afghanistan.
Neighboring Turkmenistan is also interested in participating in this project, as the railway aims to connect Central Asia to Pakistan’s Karachi and Gwadar ports, providing Turkmenistan and its neighbors access to vast South Asian markets. The Turgundi–Herat–Kandahar–Spin Boldak railway line is considered a key segment of the broader Trans-Afghan Railway project, which even Russia has expressed an interest in joining.
“It is still too early to discuss who will build the railway, although it is clear that Afghan companies are unlikely to be able to undertake the project,” Mirwais Ghafouri, Senior Advisor of the Afghanistan Railway Authority, told The Times of Central Asia in an interview.
In his view, given that Afghanistan is a mountainous country, the entire project will cost at least $2–3 billion. The problem for Kabul is that – due to various sanctions and the fact that most countries still do not officially recognize the Taliban-led government – it cannot count on significant support from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
“But we expect Kazakhstan to invest in this project, as well as in our economy in general. The shortest route connecting Central Asia and South Asia is through Afghanistan. Once the railway is complete, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian nations will be able to use it to export their agricultural products to huge markets such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh”, Ghafouri stressed, pointing out that Kabul and Astana are currently working on a project feasibility study.
The Taliban appear to be aiming to revive nearly all previously announced projects of regional and interregional importance. In doing so, they hope to attract foreign investment.
“We plan to develop extensive energy and infrastructure projects by 2030,” Haji Nooruddin Azizi said during a session of the Astana International Forum, emphasizing that Afghanistan can prosper “only if it receives economic assistance.”
Many countries remain skeptical about investing in the “Graveyard of Empires,” however. What worries them are the Taliban’s radical policies regarding women’s rights, as well as various controversial bans they have imposed since coming to power in 2021. For Azizi, however, such issues are not priorities at the moment.
“We call on the international community to try to see the situation in Afghanistan from our perspective, not through the prism of Western propaganda. We have 15 million young people who need jobs, and many people in Afghanistan are hungry. We will address the issue of women’s rights. Women can also be an important part of economic development,” the Taliban-appointed Minister of Trade and Industry stressed.
Meanwhile, Kabul will likely focus on developing ties with nations that do not insist on human rights issues but have adopted a more pragmatic stance toward Afghanistan. Kazakhstan is undoubtedly one of them.
“Over the past few years, we have managed to establish good relations with Kazakhstan, the region’s largest economy, and now we hope to strengthen economic ties between our two countries,” Muhammad Rehman Rahmani, the Taliban-appointed Chargé d’Affaires of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Kazakhstan, told The Times of Central Asia.
Muhammad Rehman Rahmani, Chargé d’Affaires of Afghanistan to Kazakhstan; image: TCA, Nikola Mikovic
Similarly, Azizi views Kazakhstan as Afghanistan’s “role model,” claiming that Astana has opened all doors to the Afghan private sector. Moreover, following the earthquakes that struck Afghanistan in early October 2023, Kazakhstan delivered over 1,600 tons of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan’s Herat province, effectively winning the hearts and minds of the local population.
Thus, the Central Asian nation has the capacity to position itself well in Afghanistan, hoping to achieve some of its geoeconomic goals by strengthening influence, expanding trade routes, and potentially securing a long-term strategic partnership with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
