Uzbekistan, China Discuss Afghanistan Security In High-Level Talks
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tashkent to discuss bilateral cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tashkent to discuss bilateral cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan.
According to the Uzbek presidency, the talks placed particular emphasis on coordinating approaches to Afghanistan’s socio-economic and security challenges.
Wang Yi visited Uzbekistan to participate in a strategic dialogue of foreign ministers. After meetings with Uzbekistan’s president and foreign minister, he travelled on to Tajikistan.
Like most countries, with the exception of Russia, China and Uzbekistan do not recognise the Taliban authorities, though both maintain active diplomatic and economic engagement with Kabul. However, China and the Central Asian states remain wary of the potential spread of extremism and cross-border terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
In June, leaders of China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan issued a joint statement in Astana expressing support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan free from terrorism and drug trafficking. The signatories also agreed to cooperate in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism across the region.
Afghanistan’s exports increased in October despite the closure of border crossings with Pakistan, according to a new World Bank report.
The bank said exports rose 13 percent compared with the previous month and 3.7 percent compared with the same period last year, reaching 267 million dollars.
The World Bank attributed the growth to increased exports to India and Uzbekistan. The report added that despite a halt in trade with Pakistan due to border skirmishes, exports were successfully redirected to India and Uzbekistan.
The bank noted that the peak harvest season and relatively low domestic inflation bolstered competitiveness and helped offset losses caused by the disruption of trade through Pakistan.
Food exports in October reached 238.4 million dollars, an 8.6 percent increase from a year earlier, reflecting strong regional demand, the report added.
Pakistan shut key border crossings after recent clashes with Taliban forces, halting trade and transit between the two countries for more than a month.
In response, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs banned the import of medicines from Pakistan and instructed Afghan traders to find alternative trade and transit routes. Following this directive, the Taliban’s commerce minister travelled to Iran to expand commercial ties.
The Taliban have also announced a memorandum of understanding with Uzbekistan for the export of Afghan agricultural products. On 22 November, the Taliban said exports of fresh produce to Uzbekistan and Central Asia had begun through the Hairatan commercial port.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry has previously urged the reopening of border crossings and the resumption of bilateral trade, warning that while trade potential exceeds 5 billion dollars annually, the volume has fallen below one billion due to repeated disruptions.
Two former Pakistani diplomats say the Taliban’s policies are fuelling internal opposition and paving the way for potential regime change in Afghanistan.
Speaking during a panel discussion, Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, said the group’s actions have weakened its hold on power and created openings for armed resistance movements in the north, including Badakhshan. He added that non-Pashtun communities also form part of an emerging internal opposition.
Durrani said the Taliban have demonstrated an inability to govern effectively or maintain control of the country. He argued that the group has failed across all sectors, including social affairs, the economy and counterterrorism.
Citing international assessments, he said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which he claimed receives support from the Afghan Taliban, poses a growing threat not only to Pakistan but to the wider South and Central Asian region. According to him, Taliban policies have deepened the group’s isolation among neighbouring states and the broader international community, especially due to its continued ban on education for girls and women.
Durrani warned that anti-Taliban groups in northern Afghanistan have become more active, and that the Taliban’s continued approach could strengthen and unite these armed movements. However, he stressed that Pakistan should not involve itself in any regime-change efforts in Afghanistan, noting that past interventions had failed.
He said the Taliban’s treatment of women has made the group “globally despised.”
Amjad Ali Sher, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Cambodia, also addressed the panel. He noted that the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, led by Yasin Zia, maintain a presence in northern Afghanistan and Badakhshan. He said Badakhshan’s strategic importance, bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, makes it a focal point for opposition activity.
Sher said attempts to push back opposition groups have had limited success but warned that efforts aimed at regime change “will continue and will not stop.”
Pakistani media have recently highlighted the possibility of a political shift in Kabul, especially after relations between Islamabad and the Taliban deteriorated sharply. Pakistani officials have stopped referring to the Taliban as the “interim government,” instead calling it the “Taliban regime.” Over the past two months, Islamabad has repeatedly raised concerns about the Taliban’s lack of legitimacy and the exclusion of ethnic groups, minorities and women from power.
Three rounds of talks between the two sides have ended without progress. The Taliban rejected Pakistan’s requests for a written commitment to stop cross-border TTP attacks, issue a religious decree against jihad in Pakistan, and hand over TTP leaders. The Taliban maintain that TTP violence is Pakistan’s internal problem.
Following the closure of border crossings by Pakistan, the Taliban cut trade ties in response. They halted medicine imports from Pakistan and have turned to India in search of alternative supplies.
However, former Pakistani envoys at the panel argued that India cannot replace Pakistan in Afghan trade due to geography. Afghanistan and India share no land border, forcing New Delhi to rely on ports in Pakistan or Iran.
The Taliban are seeking to increase use of Iran’s Chabahar Port, but the port remains under heavy international sanctions.
An Iranian border official says more than 2,000 Iranian cargo trucks have been stranded by Taliban authorities at the Islam Qala crossing in Herat.
This has prompted Tehran to introduce a “one-to-one” system governing the entry and exit of Afghan and Iranian freight vehicles.
Esmail Pourabed, director of the Dogharoon customs post, said on Saturday that Iranian trucks have been held at Herat customs for between nine and fifteen days, delays he described as “unprecedented” in recent months.
He said that during November, more than 12,000 cargo trucks crossed from Iran into Afghanistan through Dogharoon, while 10,739 Afghan trucks entered Iran.
Pourabed urged Taliban authorities to maintain a balanced ratio of truck movements on both sides of the border, saying the current restrictions had forced many Iranian drivers to remain in harsh conditions at the Islam Qala customs terminal.
He added that Iran’s judiciary has now implemented a “one-to-one” plan under which one Iranian cargo truck will be allowed to leave for every Afghan truck entering Iran.
Taliban is seeking to expand pharmaceutical imports from India as it reduces reliance on Pakistan for medical supplies.
Taliban Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi held talks in New Delhi with India’s Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, which expressed interest in increasing its exports of medicines to Afghanistan.
According to a statement from the Taliban commerce ministry on Saturday, the Indian side also signalled readiness for joint investment and the establishment of pharmaceutical production facilities inside Afghanistan. The discussions covered medicine imports, improving product quality, investment opportunities and solutions to current challenges in bilateral pharmaceutical trade.
The ministry said Azizi assured Indian pharmaceutical companies that the Taliban would fully support credible firms operating in Afghanistan.
The talks come as the Taliban shift away from Pakistan for the supply of essential medicines. Earlier, the Taliban Ministry of Finance announced that customs duties on Pakistani pharmaceutical imports would be suspended for three months. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar instructed Afghan traders to seek alternative routes to Pakistani border crossings and markets.
The commerce ministry added that Afghan pharmaceutical officials and stakeholders will visit advanced pharmaceutical facilities in India. It also said a delegation from India’s pharmaceutical sector will travel to Kabul to explore practical opportunities for establishing production plants and expanding exports.
With three rounds of negotiations having failed, a high-level Turkish delegation led by the head of Türkiye’s intelligence agency is expected to travel to Islamabad next week.
İrfan Neziroğlu, Türkiye’s ambassador to Pakistan, said on Friday that the delegation would include the director of the Turkish intelligence organisation and several senior officials. Türkiye’s energy minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, will also accompany the team.
The planned visit was first mentioned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Baku.
Highlighting Ankara’s security concerns, Neziroğlu said Türkiye wanted to ensure that no individual or group used Afghan territory to enter Pakistan and carry out terrorist attacks. He said the two neighbouring countries should be able to live “as brothers” and that Türkiye was committed to helping achieve that goal.
Türkiye and Qatar have jointly mediated recent talks between Pakistan and the Taliban, but three rounds of negotiations in Doha and Istanbul have ended without progress. Iran and Russia have also begun attempting to play a mediating role, with Iran planning a regional meeting focused on easing Taliban–Pakistan tensions.
Diplomatic and trade relations between Islamabad and the Taliban authorities remain strained. The Taliban are seeking to expand diplomatic and economic ties with other countries to offset the fallout. The Taliban’s commerce minister is currently in India and has recently visited Iran.
Taliban officials have also been looking for alternative trade routes. Before travelling to India, the Taliban commerce minister held discussions in Iran about increasing the use of ports such as Chabahar and Bandar Abbas as substitutes for Karachi and other Pakistani ports.
Pakistan has said that the normalisation of relations will only be possible if the Taliban demonstrate cooperation and take concrete action against militant groups — particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).