Foreign Ministers from China, Pakistan, & Afghanistan Meet in Islamabad
At a meeting of the three countries’ foreign ministers in Islamabad, China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan vowed to further expand trilateral cooperation on security and counterterrorism.
On Sunday, the ministers made a commitment to maintain goodwill, increase political trust, respect one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and appropriately resolve differences and disagreements via open and equitable consultation.
China is urged to invest in Afghanistan.
Since the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have taken control of the country, and it has been cut off from the rest of the world.
Since then, the Taliban regime has tried to entice Chinese investment in its mineral assets, which include lithium and copper.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan, was in Islamabad to meet with Qin Gang despite being subject to a travel prohibition by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Later on Sunday, he is scheduled to meet privately with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a network of roads, trains, and ports that is still under development, China has spent billions of dollars in Pakistan.
The foreign ministry of China is eager to make investments in Afghanistan. In a statement from a month ago, it stated that it “welcomes Afghanistan’s participation in the Belt and Road cooperation and supports Afghanistan’s integration into regional economic cooperation and connectivity.”
According to the Xinhua news agency, Qin stated that China is prepared to work with Afghanistan and Pakistan to implement the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative.
Pakistan and China Want Security Assurances
The Afghan government, which is governed by the Taliban, was given backing by China and Pakistan to increase its capacity to deal with “terrorist” actors as part of the three parties’ commitment to bolster counterterrorism cooperation.
TTP, the abbreviation for the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, refers to two distinct yet related factions. At least six Pakistani soldiers were killed last week in a gunfight with TTP terrorists in Pakistan’s northwest, close to the Afghan border.
Since last year, when the TTP mediated a truce between the Taliban and the government in Islamabad, attacks like these have increased in frequency.
Prior to starting any economic initiatives in Afghanistan, China also wants to see a more secure security environment there.
Afghanistan emphasised that no armed organisation would be permitted to conduct operations against China or Pakistan on its soil.
Qin urged the establishment of structures for coordination and collaboration among Afghanistan’s neighbors under a multilateral regional framework.
For their parts, Zardari and Muttaqi emphasised the importance of regional peace and development to China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s collaboration.
According to them, Afghanistan and Pakistan are ready to actively promote trilateral cooperation, develop a roadmap for it in areas like politics, security, and the economy, protect the shared interests of the three nations, produce win-win outcomes, and benefit the people of the three neighbors as well as those of other nations in the region.
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