China, regional countries endorse Pak efforts for Afghan peace, reconciliation: Qureshi

BEIJING: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday said all the regional countries, including China, appreciated Pakistan's efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

“I have so far visited Afghanistan, Iran and China during my regional outreach. All these countries have endorsed our efforts for the resolution of Afghan issue,” he told APP after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during his day-long visit to China.

The minister said he held an important meeting with the Chinese foreign minister and discussed the Afghan reconciliation process, progress on the recently held 8th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Belt and Road Forum (BRF) scheduled to be held in April in Beijing, forthcoming Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, Pakistan’s exports to China and balance of support.

The Chinese side acknowledged Pakistan’s role and assured their complete support for the peace and stability in Afghanistan, he said. “Chinese leaders understand that the reconciliation process should move forward.”

Qureshi said there was smooth progress on CPEC and all the speculations had been proved wrong.

To a question, he said the purpose of his four countries' visit was a regional outreach on the Afghan issue and taking them into confidence over the latest situation regarding the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.

He said he held consultations with the leaders of Afghanistan, Iran and China. “I discussed new alliances and developments in Afghanistan and presented our point of view."

The minister said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appreciated the entire peace process and expressed complete support, saying it was the shared and common objective of both the neighbouring countries.

He said during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran, the present similarity of views and common approach between the two countries was seen first time after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Pakistan was a close friend of Iran, he added.

Regarding his visit to Moscow, he said Russia was an important country in the region and during his visit to the country, he would discuss the Afghan issue with his Russian counterpart.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and China held an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and regional matters, including the situation in Afghanistan.

During the meeting held in a cordial atmosphere, Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated that the ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ between Pakistan and China was deeply rooted in mutual trust and respect.

While discussing the evolving political dynamics in Afghanistan, the two sides underscored commonality of views on the matter.

Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that as neighbouring countries and friends of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China strongly supported Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

He also appreciated China’s important role in furtherance of peace and development in Afghanistan, particularly through China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral mechanism.

Expressing satisfaction at the strong bilateral partnership, the foreign minister highlighted that CPEC had added an important dimension to bilateral ties.

He noted the important progress made on CPEC during the 8th meeting of JCC held in Beijing on December 20.

China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi appreciated Pakistan for its efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

He said China attached paramount importance to its relations with Pakistan and underlined that time-tested partnership between two countries is based on mutual respect, trust and strong bonds of friendship.

Both leaders agreed that the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan set the tone for further expanding the time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China.

They noted with satisfaction bilateral cooperation at multilateral fora and emphasized the need to further deepen communication and coordination at all levels.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi was assisted by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Pakistan's Ambassador to China Masood Khalid while Wang Yi was assisted by the senior officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing.

Earlier, the foreign minister was accorded a warm welcome by the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s senior officials and Ambassador Masood Khalid when he arrived in the Chinese capital after the visit of Afghanistan and Iran.

He was warmly received and welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi before the talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.