The Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that in the meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang the two sides stressed the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
This comes as the acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, is also on a visit to Pakistan.
Muttaqi attended the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral foreign ministers’ dialogue on Saturday.
Bhutto said that they “held productive discussions on political engagement, counter terrorism, trade & connectivity.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue said that the meeting stressed the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan, saying it is vital for socio-economic development, connectivity and prosperity in the region.
The participants underscored the need for the international community to provide continued assistance and support to Afghanistan including through the freeing of Afghanistan’s overseas financial assets, the statement said, adding that they also “agreed to continue their humanitarian and economic assistance for the Afghan people and enhance development cooperation in Afghanistan, including through extension of CPEC to Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, the CGTN reported that Qin in a meeting with Muttaqi called for “advancing China-Pakistan-Afghanistan cooperation dialogue on the principles of mutual benefit and win-win results.”
China will, as always, respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields to help Afghanistan realize self-reliance, peace, stability, development and prosperity at an early date, Qin said as quoted by CGTN.
Muttaqi was accompanied by the acting Minister of Industry and Mines, Nooruddin Azizi, who met with the Commerce Minister of Pakistan, Syed Naveed Qamar, in Islamabad.
In the meeting they discussed bilateral commerce and solving trade challenges between the two countries, the Afghanistan Embassy in Islamabad said on Twitter.
“The issues related to transit, economic, trade and Afghan refugees based in Pakistan were discussed and they will have other meetings on other issues. The details will be shared later,” said deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi.
“China is interested in Afghanistan now more than ever, either economically or politically,” said Tahir Khan, a Pakistani journalist.
Muttaqi’s visit to abroad is the second in less than one month.