China new actor in Afghanistan after NATO pullout

Kabuls foreign ministry said Monday Afghanistan and China will this week announce the elevation of their relationship to a new strategic level.The announcement will be made by Presidents Hamid Karzai and Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told AFP.The SCO is a Central Asian grouping headed by Beijing and Moscow, and intended as a counterweight to US influence in the region.This new step is a solid reaffirmation of the ever growing importance and significance of the friendship and economic, political, cultural and other fields of cooperation and partnership between Afghanistan and China, Mosazai said.The two countries share views and commitment over the security and stability of Afghanistan and the wider region and the necessity of joint efforts to tackle the menaces of terrorism and extremism, he said.Mosazai gave no details of any security role China might play in Kabuls fight against hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents, saying the announcement will be fleshed out by both sides as we move forward in our friendship and cooperation.Afghanistan last month signed a strategic agreement with the United States, covering relations between the two countries after US-led NATO forces withdraw in 2014, and with several other countries including France and India.No pact will be signed in Beijing but it is likely that a joint declaration will be developed into a future agreement, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.China has already secured major oil and copper mining concessions in Afghanistan, which is believed to be sitting on more than $1 trillion worth of minerals.The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and focuses on regional issues including anti-terrorism.