Afghan interior ministry said Saturday that Afghanistan's eastern neighbour is endeavouring to make the north-eastern province of Badakhshan insecure aiming to put obstacles over construction of the Silk Route to China.
Pakistan is believed to have recently had broader role in causing insecurity to the province's Wardooj district after it realised the historical Silk Route will connect Afghanistan to China and other countries in the region leading to less dependency of Afghanistan to its neighbouring countries on the east side.
"This highway which will be directly connected to China and will reduce our dependence on our neighbouring countries," said Sediq Sediqi, spokesman for Ministry of Interior Affairs, "This is not tolerable for some countries as they really want Afghanistan to be dependent on them, I mean [those] on the east side of Afghanistan."
Meanwhile, Ministry of Commerce and Industries considers the highway beneficial to the neighbouring countries and said that one of the challenges against construction of the road is the project plan not being implemented from the Afghan government side.
As believed by Ministry of Commerce and Industries, neighbouring countries are not making any efforts to stop the project.
"I think this is not only beneficial to Afghanistan but it will also be of benefits to Pakistan, Iran, and other countries," said the ministry spokesman Wahidullah Ghazi Khel.
"Those countries are also interested in this road becoming ready to use," he added.
Afghan MPs also believe that the main motive to conflicts in Wardooj district is to hold back the construction of this historical route.
"One of the main factors behind the current conflict in Wardooj – which is plotted by Pakistan and aimed to expand insecurity in the area – is to put off construction of the Silk Route," said Saranwal Abdul Maroof, Badakhshan MP.
MPs' concern comes as in a previous conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Wardooj district, as many as 16 Afghan army soldiers and about 60 members of the Taliban were killed, an incident following which a joint Afghan security forces operation cleared the district of insurgents.