On Sunday, October 12, the Taliban announced the opening of the Wakhan Road at a ceremony in Badakhshan province, with a cost of 365 million Afghanis. The group described this 121-kilometer route as a strategic step in linking Afghanistan to China. However, evidence shows that the Taliban has constructed a rough and non-standard path leading to an impenetrable security barrier without customs facilities.
Details of the Wakhan Road Project
Along the Wakhan Road, 4 large bridges and 66 small bridges have been built. Abdul Latif Mansoor, the Taliban's Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, announced at the opening ceremony that this project has economic and political value and is a priority in the group's economic policy. He also mentioned the structural problems faced by the residents of Pamir and Wakhan, stating that 10 issues, including access to telecommunications services and health clinics, have been communicated to the group's leader.
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However, economic experts and observers of China's developments view this project with skepticism, considering it a knock on a closed door that Beijing is unwilling to open. The history of this project dates back to the years 2018 to 2021, when the Ministry of Public Works of the former Afghan government began the necessary studies for the construction of this road.
China's Silence and Challenges
After the Taliban's takeover, the group resumed work on the project in late 2023 by sending machinery to Pamir. However, Beijing's response to these movements has been complete silence. On Sunday, October 12, 2025, the Taliban announced that this road has been opened after leveling and graveling. Nevertheless, ground realities indicate that the Wakhan mountain pass makes heavy vehicle traffic impossible due to difficult geographical conditions.
Shahim Ahmadi, an economic issues expert, emphasized the technical deficiencies of this project, stating that the Taliban have only completed half of the work with graveling. He also clarified that without customs agreements and bilateral protocols, the operation of this road does not mean the completion of an active transit line.
China's diplomatic stance on transit cooperation with Kabul has always been cautious, and any expansion of this cooperation is conditional on specific circumstances. Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has explicitly stated that any cooperation with Kabul requires the formation of an inclusive government and a fight against terrorist groups.
Analytical bases in China have also clearly stated that opening China's doors is not related to the power of the Taliban's bulldozers, and as long as terrorist threats exist at the Xinjiang border, Beijing will not open its gates to Afghanistan.
Ultimately, the Taliban's efforts to bring the road to the zero border point without customs agreements is merely a psychological maneuver to escape a trade crisis. On the other hand, Claudia Sommermann, an investigative reporter, emphasized that China's main concern in this region is the terrorist threats arising from the influence of members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and Beijing does not trust the Taliban's security commitments.
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