This week, the first freight train to Kazakhstan left Guangzhou, officially opening a rail route from South China to Central Asia. China continues to be active in Afghanistan, donating the funds for building a mosque and sending the second batch of winter supplies to Kabul. In turn, the Taliban-led Government of Afghanistan thanked China for all recent donations. Also this week, votes were counted for the elections in Kyrgyzstan and representatives of six parties got into the parliament. Finally, ties with India were not neglected and the Central Asian leaders were invited to India on Republic Day.
Image source: Guangzhou Port
A freight train, loaded with 100 containers, departed from the port of Guangzhou on Saturday headed for Almaty, Kazakhstan (Global Times, China.org.cn). It is expected that this new rail route will improve the efficiency of international freight transport, reduce transport costs and expand the logistics transport channel westward from Guangzhou to Central Asia. Since the launch of China-Europe freight trains from the port of Guangzhou in April this year, 10 international freight trains have been launched to date, including nine freight trains within the China-Europe and one China-Central Asia freight train, which delivered more than 1000 standard containers of goods.
In Kabul, a ceremony was held to officially transfer a new mosque built at the expense of the PRC to the Afghan government, led by members of the Taliban (See: XINHUANET, GCR). Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wan Yu took part in the opening ceremony of the new mosque, which the authorities of the Chinese side presented to the Taliban as a sign of friendship and cooperation. The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Afghanistan.
On Monday, another ceremony was held in Kabul to transfer the second batch of winter supplies provided by the Chinese government to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid (See: CGTN, XINHUANET). The ceremony was attended by the Chinese Ambassador Wang Yu and the Acting Deputy Minister for Refugees of the Interim Government of Afghanistan, Arsal Haroti. Afghanistan seems to be moving from chaos to a slightly more stable situation, but at the same time faces numerous economic and social challenges. It was stated at the ceremony that China as a good neighbor, brother, and partner, has always paid a great deal of attention to the development of the situation in Afghanistan. A harsh winter has already come, so the Chinese people donated blankets, puffins, and other winter supplies to the Afghan people, which reflects the Chinese’ concern and friendly feelings for Afghans, as well as convincing evidence of Sino-Afghan friendship. The chief spokesman for the Taliban-led administration, Zabiullah Mujahid, in turn, thanked China for the donations (See: XINHUANET, China.org.cn). The spokesman expressed the hope that the countries of the region, the Islamic world, European states, and China, will provide Afghanistan with assistance in rebuilding the country after the war.
The Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan completed the counting of the votes and announced the results of the elections for the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) of the republic (See: Interfax, Asia&Pacific). The highest legislative body passed 6 political parties that crossed the 5% electoral threshold. The Ata-Jourt Kyrgyzstan party won 17.32% votes and received 15 deputy seats, Ishenim with 13.61% votes will occupy 12 seats in the new parliament, Yntymak with 11% votes receives 9 seats, Alliance (8.35%) - 7 seats, Butun Kyrgyzstan (7.04%) - 6 and Yyman Nuru (6.17%) - 5 seats. 1.281 million people took part in the elections, making up 34.94% of the total number of those eligible to vote.
Finally, it was in the news that India awaits the responses of the leaders of the five Central Asian countries to the invitation to participate as the main guests of Republic Day (R-Day) 2022, which will be celebrated on January 26 (See: The Hindu, Hindustan Times). It is expected that the details of the visit will be agreed upon during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India and Central Asia, which Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar will hold this weekend in Delhi. If the invitations are accepted, representatives of the five countries will be present together for the first time at the parade in honor of Republic Day. The invitation to R-Day is part of India's cooperation with the former Soviet republics, which has intensified since 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the capitals of these five states. India has also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2017, which includes all Central Asian countries except Turkmenistan.
