Pakistan, China, Afghanistan hold trilateral strategic dialogue in Beijing

BEIJING: Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan agreed to strengthen the anti-terrorism security cooperation and continue their alliance in fighting terrorism, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday in a statement on its website.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuan You, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai, and Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tamina Janjua co-chaired the meeting on Monday.

During the second round of the trilateral strategic dialogue between the three countries' deputy foreign ministers, the nations “exchanged in-depth views on political mutual trust, the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan, [and] the progress and direction of trilateral pragmatic and security cooperation,“ the Chinese ministry's statement read.

It said all the parties agreed that they considered the trilateral cooperation mechanism among Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan to be of great importance. The three states also said they were willing to strengthen their communication to enhance mutual trust.

Pakistan and China mentioned that they highly appreciated the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), with Afghanistan expressing its willingness to maintain a dialogue and the practical implementation of the action plan to promote continuous improvement of friendly relations.

The foreign ministry further commented on how China intends to continue playing a constructive role in improving the Pak-Afghan linkages.

“China and Pakistan appreciate the peace initiative proposed by Afghan President [Ashraf] Ghani and will jointly support Afghanistan in advancing the Afghan-led [and] Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process.”

While the three nations agreed to continue well-established training and humanities exchanges, they also prepared for a second trilateral meeting, scheduled to be held in Kabul later this year.