Taliban makes overtures to Trump administration over mineral deals

{"text":[[{"start":7.28,"text":"Afghanistan is offering the US access to mineral resources, in an overture to the Trump administration as the de facto Taliban government pitches for relief from sanctions and the release of frozen assets to support one of the world’s poorest countries."}],[{"start":21.36,"text":"The bid for investment comes as the Taliban has stepped up diplomatic efforts five years after its return to power and the withdrawal of US-led Nato forces, which President Donald Trump called “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country”."}],[{"start":34.92,"text":"Asked about his relationship with the Trump administration, Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghanistan would “absolutely” welcome US investments in sectors including mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade."}],[{"start":48.68,"text":"“Relations between Afghanistan and the United States should not be assessed through the lens of the past 20 years of war, but rather on the basis of future co-operation,” Muttaqi told the FT in his office in Kabul. “Our economic policy is open.”"}],[{"start":62.36,"text":"Muttaqi did not say whether that pitch had been made directly to the White House."}],[{"start":66,"text":"Geological surveys carried out by the US and the western-backed Afghan government estimate the country holds at least $1tn of mineral resources, including significant deposits of copper, iron ore, niobium, cobalt, gold and lithium, which remain largely untapped due to decades of conflict."}],[{"start":84.04,"text":"Since 2021, the Taliban has announced more than $7bn of mining investments with countries including China and Iran for gold, gemstones and chromite, which is used in steelmaking."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":95.68,"text":"This month, thousands of Taliban supporters poured into central Kabul to mark the fifth anniversary of the Islamist group’s return to power and the collapse of the US-backed government."}],[{"start":105.72,"text":"While experts say the country is safer since the end of the Nato war, Afghanistan remains one of the world’s poorest nations, with more than 14mn people — about a third of the population — facing acute hunger."}],[{"start":117.48,"text":"The Taliban has also instituted a severe interpretation of sharia law, with draconian restrictions on women’s and girls’ access to education, business and public life. Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the group’s leader Hibatullah Akhundzada for alleged gender-based persecution."}],[{"start":135.52,"text":"UN experts warned this month that “there should be no moves to normalise the Taliban de facto authorities, including by accepting diplomats or holding meetings in capitals, without demonstrated, measurable progress against human rights benchmarks, particularly for women and girls”."}],[{"start":152.84,"text":"Foreign diplomats in Kabul said prospective investors would also have to navigate UN and western sanctions against senior Taliban officials — including Muttaqi, who has spent decades in the upper echelons of the Islamist group’s leadership. They also raised concerns that financial flows could embolden the regime and weaken leverage to moderate its hardline policies."}],[{"start":174.36,"text":"Yet over the past year, Kabul has begun to emerge from diplomatic isolation. Countries including China, India, Iran, Qatar and several Central Asian states have welcomed Taliban officials or opened channels of communication. Russia, which recognised the Taliban government last year, signed a military co-operation agreement in May."}],[{"start":195.24,"text":"In June, the EU hosted Taliban officials in Brussels for the first time to discuss possible migrant returns. German officials have proposed holding similar talks."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":205.48,"text":"The Taliban hopes that these efforts will translate into the lifting of sanctions — which Muttaqi argued “did not achieve their intended objectives” — and the release of frozen reserves."}],[{"start":215.48,"text":"Afghanistan’s central bank estimates that $9.5bn of reserves remain outside the country, including $7bn in the US. In 2022, the US sent $3.5bn — now worth more than $4bn with interest — to a Switzerland-based “Afghan Fund” to support financial stability without directly benefiting the Taliban."}],[{"start":238.12,"text":"“No individual, government or institution should use the assets of the Afghan people as a tool of political pressure,” said Muttaqi. He said Kabul was discussing the frozen assets with relevant governments."}],[{"start":250.56,"text":"Trump has shown little interest in forging closer ties to the Taliban, however, and has proposed the return of Bagram air base north of Kabul to US control, a suggestion the regime has dismissed."}],[{"start":261.28,"text":"“All military and civilian facilities in Afghanistan, including Bagram, are national assets of Afghanistan,” said Muttaqi."}],[{"start":269.28,"text":"But he encouraged the White House to reopen the US embassy that was abandoned in 2021, saying the Taliban had “ensured its security . . . rebuilt the road and planted new trees”."}],[{"start":280,"text":"“The area now looks very vibrant and attractive,” he said."}],[{"start":286.68,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788151295_1937.mp3"}