The East Africans knew full well the little calculations in the Soviets' hearts. Overall, the Central Asia Highway would benefit the Soviet Union more than East Africa; indeed, East Africa would gain no direct benefit at all.
"The strategic significance of this road to us far outweighs its economic and political returns," Ernst concluded.
"So the budget must be strictly kept within a certain range. We are not going there to lift Afghanistan and the Balochistan region out of poverty."
"The Afghan government should also contribute more. If they are willing, a higher construction standard for this road would not be a bad thing."
Crown Prince Friedrich shook his head. "Rather than count on the Afghan government to put in effort, we might as well count on them to restrain their own people and keep them from causing us trouble."
"Especially in some tribal-controlled regions of northern Afghanistan."
Afghanistan was currently an exceedingly contradictory country. It had a unified, centralized government and a monarch, yet its social structure still contained a great many tribes.
Those tribes were full of every kind of uncertainty, and East Africa could not possibly deal with them one by one.
Ernst said, "Afghanistan's current government is still fairly good. At the very least, King Shah, that young man, has the desire to push modernization reforms in Afghanistan."
"Moreover, having a unified government in Afghanistan to keep that heap of tribes in check is also good for regional stability."
"For the construction of the Central Asia Highway, Afghanistan certainly has no money, but we will still need to rely heavily on the Afghan government's support in terms of manpower."
There was no need whatsoever to place hopes on Afghanistan's finances. With Britain and the Soviet Union periodically harvesting it, saving even a little nest egg was