Trilateral talks on Afghanistan lauded

Trilateral talks on Afghanistan can pave the way for ending the ongoing humanitarian crisis and facilitating reconstruction of the war-torn country, experts said following the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue in Islamabad on Saturday.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan interim government Amir Khan Muttaqi in the Pakistani capital.

Following the meeting, Qin said that as traditionally friendly neighbors, China is ready to make joint efforts with Afghanistan and Pakistan to implement the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative.

China is willing to share development opportunities and meet security challenges with the two countries to set an example of neighborly cooperation and solving hot spot issues through bilateral and trilateral mechanisms, Qin said.

At the meeting, the three countries agreed to advance cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, support the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, and promote connectivity among the three neighbors.

Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, executive director at the Center for South Asia and International Studies, or CSAIS, in Islamabad, said, "Obviously, the Chinese wisdom has once again successfully prevailed in the most recently concluded China-Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign ministers' dialogue."

During the meeting, Qin emphasized deepening anti-terrorism cooperation and enhancing economic collaboration to achieve the desired goals of regional stability and development. "This message …was loud and clear that terrorism had no place, space and scope in the region," Khan said.

Support appreciated

Former Pakistani ambassador to China Salman Bashir stressed the importance of the trilateral process, noting that the Islamabad meeting was useful for taking stock of the situation. "We welcome the affirmations of support for Afghanistan by China," Bashir said.

Khalid Taimur Akram, executive director at the Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, said China has been playing a greater role in the region, especially after the United States and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"However, China along with the other regional countries took ownership of the situation and made sure that the people of Afghanistan did not suffer," he said. "The trilateral platform is part of many initiatives which China has undertaken to initiate dialogue with Afghan partners."

Qin said that China is ready to help Afghanistan realize self-reliance, peace, stability, development and prosperity at an early date.

Muttaqi said Afghanistan hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in such fields as the economy, trade, people-to-people exchanges and infrastructure within the framework of the BRI to safeguard common interests and mutual benefit.

He said Afghanistan hopes to live in harmony with China, Pakistan and other neighboring countries and is willing to actively promote trilateral cooperation with China and Pakistan to promote regional stability and prosperity.

"The meeting in Islamabad has vividly reflected that regional countries and international power brokers should refrain from the domestic affairs of Afghanistan," said Khan from the CSAIS.