Taliban hold peace talks in China

BEIJING: As part of its efforts to promote durable peace and reconciliation in the war-battered Afghanistan, Beijing has recently invited a Taliban delegation, the foreign ministry in a statement said on Thursday.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters here that the Taliban representative in Qatar Abdul Ghani Baradar along with some other leaders had recently visited China to discuss the Afghan peace process and counter-terror issues, the media reported.

“China pays great attention to the evolving situation in Afghanistan in recent years. We have always played a positive role in the Afghan peace and reconciliation process,” Lu said.

He said China wanted the Afghans to talk out their problems themselves, and the recent visit was an important part of China promoting such peace talks.

“Both sides believe that this exchange was beneficial and agreed to keep in touch about and cooperate on continuing to seek a political resolution for Afghanistan and fighting terrorism,” he said. It merits a mention that the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, visited Kabul last December.