BEIJING: The foreign ministers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and China met in Beijing on Tuesday where they agreed to work together to tackle the threat of terrorism and disallow terrorists to use their respective territories against each other. The first trilateral meeting of foreign ministers from the countries comes as China steps up its investment in its neighbouring nations as part of its trillion-dollar One Belt One Road investment initiative.
“China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, will naturally try to strengthen cooperation amongst each other,” China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV. “This is fully in accordance with our common interests, and is a good thing for us.” He said at the joint press conference. “We have agreed to help Afghanistan in peace process and to improve relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan will take practical action over the Afghan peace process,“We called on Taliban to join the peace process and Pakistan has announced their support for peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government. China will also support the Afghan peace process,” he added. “We will also continue our fight against the terrorists. Extremism must not be active in this region,” he noted.
He pointed out that: “Good relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are in the interests of their people and also the region. China aims to improve relations between the two countries. We will also be present at the Kabul Process meeting which is going to be held in February.”
Afghan foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani said "we agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and without any distinctions of any sort." Rabbani said Afghanistan will continue its "resolute fight against ETIM ( Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement) and their support groups and networks, and overall counterterrorism cooperation", he added.
The three countries resolved to not let their territories be used against one another, according to a notification of the meeting. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif emphasised that peace is the collective goal of the three neighbourly nations. "We are hopeful that long lasting peace in Afghanistan will be established," he said adding that peace and development are in the interests of all the three countries. "Today, realising the common aspirations of peace and development of peoples of our three countries, we have explored ways and means to achieve our shared goals," said Asif.
On the significance of the forum, Asif said it would lead to "cooperation among our three countries [China, Afghanistan and Pakistan] in the fields of economy, security, counter-terrorism, and connectivity projects that would contribute to peace, stability, economic prosperity, and development in all our three countries."
The foreign minister shared that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) can serve as a model for future cooperation among countries. "Successful implementation of CPEC projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Central and West Asia."
The minister also stressed the importance of resolving the Afghan issue. "We underscored our support for an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace reconciliation process for bringing durable peace and stability in Afghanistan." "It was agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan are essential to realise our shared objective of development, deepening connectivity, and economic prosperity," he said. "Pakistan has emphasised the importance of border management, the return of Afghan refugees and intelligence sharing for effective counter-terrorism cooperation.
"We look forward to [the] response to our proposal for the Pakistan-Afghanistan Action Plan for solidarity and early operationalisation of five working groups. [Afghanistan's] President [Ashraf] Ghani has also referred to the proposal as the basis for a dialogue," he said, adding, "We are convinced that peace and security in Afghanistan is critical for our people to benefit from the fruits of development."
