Qatar embraces Taliban

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, September 2, 2021: While the United States suspended diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and moved the US mission to Qatar, the latter opted to massively open on the Taliban. Doha eyed investments in the infrastructure of Afghanistan and in mining Lithium which is used in making batteries for hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles. Qatar is competing with China in the exploration of Lithium. Reportedly, lithium’s reserve in Afghanistan is estimated at one trillion dollars.

This policy of Qatar would create friction with China and its all-weather ally Pakistan. It could also derail the CPEC projects in Pakistan.

Qatar showed interest since 2019 to invest in CPEC projects. However, China rejected the offer insisting that CPEC is a bilateral deal between Beijing and Islamabad.

Qatar Investment Authority’s Head Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani said Qatar is planning various projects in Pakistan with an investment horizon for the next 10 to 15 years. Qatar showed a keen interest in Prime Minister’s Housing project. On the other hand, Pakistan encouraged Qatari companies to come forward and have joint ventures with foreign and local companies to become part of the global value chain. Nothing came up. Qatar abruptly decided in June 2020 to cancel its plans for investments of around $50 billion in Pakistan citing technical differences.

The National Accountability Bureau is investigating the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbassi

finalized the $16 billion deal with Qatar during his time as petroleum minister. Both Abbassi and Nawaz Sharif are accused of receiving kickbacks from highly placed Qatari personalities that warranted higher prices for LNG as compared to international prices. Thus, there is a visible serious trust deficit between the two countries.