China calls for improved Afghan-Pakistan ties at trilateral talks
BEIJING: China called for Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve their bilateral relationship in order to make progress in ending the conflict in Afghanistan.
The foreign ministers of the three countries met in Beijing for their first trilateral meeting on Tuesday.
“Afghanistan is in a crucial phase of transition. There is still along way to go in political reconciliation and economic reconstruction. Pakistan is in a difficult period of maintaining stability and promoting development and needs a good external environment,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said press conference according to broadcaster CCTV.
Wang further called for “Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve and develop their mutual relations” and to “support the process of peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.”
His comments were made following the first meeting of its kind on Tuesday, which included Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif. It was the latest attempt at finding solution to the threats posed by a at a state Taliban and IS militants, and also to ease mounting tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In a joint statement issued following the meeting, all three countries called for the inclusion of the Afghan Taliban in peace talks, which they said must be “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned.”
They also pledged to work together on counter-terrorism efforts and to “combat all terrorist organisations and individuals without any discrimination.” A previous series of conferences between China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US failed to deliver results.