China vow to improve relations between Pakistan Afghanistan

BEIJING - China on Tuesday expressed willingness to "improve relations" between Pakistan and Afghanistan during the first trilateral dialogue between China, Afghanistan and Pakistan's foreign ministers which was held in Beijing, ToloNews reported.

The trilateral meet is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to strengthen relations and develop cooperation between the three neighbouring countries.

According to ToloNews, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that cordial relations between Islamabad and Kabul are in the interest of Afghanistan as well as the whole region.

"China aims to improve relations between the two countries. We will also be present at the Kabul Process meeting which is going to be held in February," Yi said while speaking to the media after the trilateral discussion, ToloNewsreported.

Yi also said that China had agreed to help Afghanistan in the peace process, and that Pakistan would take "practical action" with respect to the Afghan peace process, according to ToloNews.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, during his media talk, said that Afghanistan and Pakistan are two strong brothers.

"Pakistan urges for border management and solving the refugees issues with Afghanistan," ToloNews quoted Asif as saying.

According to Radio Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said the three foreign ministers had an in-depth exchange on mutual political trust, reconciliation, development, counter-terrorism efforts and security cooperation between Pakistan, China and Afghanistan.

Chunying said that as a common neighbour and friend of Afghanistan and Pakistan, China has always supported friendly cooperation between the two countries and their common development.

Earlier, on the sidelines of the dialogue, Khawaja Asif also held a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Yi.