Almost on cue, China has signed a deal with Afghanistan to help combat the growing problems of terrorism and drug crime.
This comes almost immediately in the wake of Afghanistan’s recent and very public destruction of seized drugs which we maintained was more or less a gesture to increase the pressure for foreign aid as well its more prolonged campaign to garner support in the drug war from their neighbours.
Looks like we were right on that one at least, with China pledging to step up military cooperation with Afghanistan in addition to the agreement on terrorism and drugs.
With Afghanistan also pushing for membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the recent pledges of support from China must also have the Afghan government feeling good about its chances.
For China and most of Afghanistan’s neighbours, there is a very serious reason for offering aid in this fight. Every country bordering Afghanistan has a very high rate of heroin addictions and an increasing problem with organised crime.
While that may be a legitimate concern, the cooperation may also be extended to include the various seperatist issues that those countries also face from within their own borders.
That is when these deals will start to become messy.