ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Thursday thatPakistan and China were important players in Afghanistan peace. In hisvirtual address at the 4th China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral ForeignMinisters’ Dialogue, Qureshi said Pakistan, China and Afghanistan werelocated in a region which had immense opportunities for fostering mutuallybeneficial economic and development cooperation.
“Pakistan attaches huge importance to its trilateral mechanism with Chinaand Afghanistan for enhancing cooperation and coordination in the areas ofshared interest,” he said.
FM Qureshi said Pakistan had always strived to strengthen its relationswith China and Afghanistan in the bilateral as well as regional context.
“We strongly believe that peace, prosperity and economic development of ourthree countries are inter-linked,” he added.
The FM said about four years ago three countries had conceived thistrilateral forum for discussing collaborative efforts to promote peace andstability in Afghanistan and the region, enhancing security andcounter-terrorism cooperation and deepening regional connectivity andshared economic development through meaningful projects.
He said since then Pakistan had successfully moved forward this forumthrough a gradual and phased but consistent approach. He said the UnitedStates and NATO forces had already started withdrawal of troops fromAfghanistan.
He said while the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan entailedserious security challenges, it also offered a unique opportunity for peaceand reconciliation in Afghanistan and moving the country from a perpetualinternal conflict to an era of peace and stability.
“We should, therefore, explore how our three neighbourly countries can worktogether to deal with the evolving situation in an effective manner andsteer it towards achieving our shared objective of lasting peace andstability in Afghanistan and the region,” he said.
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The FM said the three geographically linked countries straddle historicalroutes traversing east-west and north-south.
He said durable peace and stability in Afghanistan would lead to aconducive environment for harnessing the true potential of regionalconnectivity and further deepening economic inter-dependence through use ofinnovation and technological advances. “Such an outcome will surelycontribute to progress, welfare and better lives for the peoples of ourcountries,” he added.
Qureshi said the deliberations of trilateral meeting on all the agendaitems would be constructive, meaningful and result-oriented.
The FM thanked State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi for hostingthe meeting and welcomed Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar forjoining the dialogue.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi met Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong hereto discuss enhanced cooperation.
