The Taliban recently offered the US access to Afghanistan’s mineral resources worth USD 1 trillion in exchange for lifting sanctions. The Taliban has also called on Washington DC to open an embassy in Kabul. As expected, such proposals have stunned the US which immediately rejected the offer. However, if the US decides to set aside two decades of hostility and extend a hand of friendship in this situation, Central Asian politics would take a completely different turn.

In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), Taliban Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi recently said: “Relations between Afghanistan and the US should not be assessed through the lens of the past 20 years of war, but rather on the basis of future cooperation. Our economic policy is open.” Then, he clarified that the mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade sectors of Afghanistan are fully open to US investment.

Previously, US Geological Survey (USGS), alongside a dedicated Pentagon task force, confirmed that Afghanistan sits on nearly USD 1 trillion (and potentially up to USD 3 trillion) untapped mineral reserves, such as copper, iron ore, gold, cobalt, lithium and niobium. They have remained virtually untouched mainly because of the prolonged war. According to political analysts, the Taliban Government is trying hard to attract foreign capital by highlighting these sectors in an effort to turn around its crumbling economy.

Currently, China, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Pakistan hold mining investments and contracts in Afghanistan. China and Iran are heavily involved in extracting Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth (especially gold, precious stones and chromite), filling the vacuum left by Western withdrawal. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the regime has signed more than USD 7 billion in mining contracts, primarily partnering with companies from China, Iran, Turkey and local enterprises. The Taliban Administration intends to multiply the volume of investments manifold by inviting the US.

The UN and the US have gradually imposed sanctions on Afghanistan since 1999 when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1267 to pressure the Taliban into handing over Osama bin Laden. Under these circumstances, it would be quite difficult for the US to invest in the mining sector of the South Asian country by acceding to Muttaqi’s proposal. According to diplomats, the sanctions must be lifted to allow investment and such a move would allow the Taliban Government to easily utilise the vast amount of blocked US Dollars.

Significantly, Muttaqi spoke openly about this in the interview. He said that sanctions “did not achieve their intended objectives”, arguing that Afghan assets should not be used as a political instrument. “No individual, government or institution should use the assets of the Afghan people as a tool of political pressure,” stressed the Taliban minister. In other words, it is fairly clear that Kabul is seeking the lifting of sanctions in exchange for mining rights.

The Central Bank of Afghanistan has estimated that around USD 9.5 billion of its reserves remain outside the country, including approximately USD 7 billion held in the US. As the Taliban Government is unable to access these funds because of sanctions, Afghans are facing a severe poverty and hunger crisis, with approximately 14 million people experiencing acute food insecurity. In 2022, the US transferred USD 3.5 billion into the Switzerland-based Afghan Fund that was established to support Afghanistan’s financial stability without giving the Taliban direct access to the money. The fund has since grown to more than USD 4 billion with interest. However, the US Administration has significant objections to handing over the funds directly to the Taliban as Washington DC still considers the outfit a militant group.

Meanwhile, US President Donald John Trump is not interested in maintaining close ties with the Taliban. Instead, he publicly demanded that Afghanistan return the Bagram Airfield to US control, sparking a sharp rejection from the Taliban Government in Kabul. Commenting on this issue, Muttaqi stressed: “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not allow any foreign military presence at Bagram base. All military and civilian infrastructure in Afghanistan, including Bagram, is our national property. Therefore, the question of handing them over to anyone does not arise.“

Meanwhile,

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das