Pakistan, Feb. 29 -- Beijing is forging diplomatic and economic ties with Afghanistan, and Kabul is pleased with the attention while the rest of the world views the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as a pariah. Taliban clergy representatives frequently support high-level talks between authorities, new mineral transactions, and the improvement of transportation connections between the two nations. Although Beijing has downplayed the formality of these developing connections, analysts and observers noted that it is progressively raising investment and exposure in a partnership that might benefit not just both countries but the entire region.

According to Valerie Niquet, a researcher with the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, "the Is...