Nations urged to assist Afghan reconstruction

President Xi Jinping on Friday called on Afghanistan’s neighbors to jointly work for a soft-landing of the situation in the war-torn country and provide humanitarian and anti-pandemic support for its people on the premise of respecting Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Xi made the remark as he attended via video link a joint summit of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states on Afghanistan.

The joint summit was the latest effort by China and other neighbors of Afghanistan to respond to the evolving situation in the country through cooperation.

In a speech delivered at the summit, Xi said that at a crucial time when fundamental changes have occurred in the Afghan situation, all SCO and CSTO members, which he described as a community of countries that have a shared destiny and security, should work together to maintain peace and stability.

While the future of Afghanistan should be in the hands of all ethnic groups of the Afghan people, the country’s close neighbors should give play to their distinctive advantages and influence to promote the political settlement of the Afghan issue and help the country set out on a path of peaceful reconstruction in order to ultimately realize lasting peace in the region, he said.

It is the urgent task faced by all Afghan people to resume normal order in the country and realize a soft-landing of the Afghan situation, Xi said.

He called on SCO and CSTO members to engage in contact and dialogue with all parties in Afghanistan from a pragmatic perspective. Efforts should be made to help the new political structure be more open and inclusive, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, and live on good terms with all countries, especially neighboring countries, he said.

The Chinese president underlined the importance of keeping an eye on the movements of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.

Relevant parties in Afghanistan should firmly crack down on the country’s terrorist forces with measures targeting both the symptoms and the root cause in order to prevent them from putting other countries at risk, he said.

Xi called on the neighboring countries to provide the Afghan people with humanitarian support to tide them over their current difficulties, as well as assistance to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. China will continue to provide more assistance within its ability to the country, he added.

Xi added that certain countries who created the difficult situation in Afghanistan should undertake their due responsibilities with regard to the country’s future development.

Earlier this month, China decided to urgently provide food, winter materials, COVID-19 vaccines, and medicines worth 200 million yuan ($30.98 million) to Afghanistan based on the needs of the Afghan people.

The SCO currently comprises of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.