Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Beijing Meeting Stresses Economic, Security Cooperation

Beijing Meeting Stresses Economic, Security  Cooperation

BEIJING – Improvement of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations was high on the agenda of a meeting of the foreign ministers from the two and China in Beijing on Tuesday.
Foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China on Tuesday held their first-ever trilateral meeting to explore ways of ending the Kabul-Islamabad mistrust.
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif joined their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to confer on economic and security cooperation.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV quoted Wang as saying: “China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as three neighbours, will naturally try to strengthen cooperation amongst each other.
“This is fully in accordance with our common interests, and is a good thing for us,” the host foreign minister added. The meeting is expected to create a communication platform for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In June, during Wang’s visits to Kabul and Islamabad, the three countries had agreed on setting up the mechanism to bring Pakistan and Afghanistan closer. Kabul blamed Islamabad for sheltering Taliban militants.
According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, Khawaja Asif called peace the collective goal of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan. Peace and development were in the interests of all the three countries, he argued.
Wang voiced optimism about the outcome of the dialogue -- part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to strengthen relations and cooperation among the three nations.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the foreign ministers would exchange views on mutual trust, reconciliation, development, security cooperation and counter-terrorism. (Pajhwok)