BEIJING – Senior diplomats from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China are inBeijing for a series of sessions to review preparations for the secondtrilateral meeting of the foreign ministers.
China being SCO’s current chair is playing a proactive role in promotingpeace and stability in Afghanistan. The Afghan and Chinese teams were ledrespectively by Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai and Vice-ForeignMinister Kong Xuan You.
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua represented Pakistan in the TrilateralStrategic Dialogue on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisalsaid.
She highlighted the steps Pakistan has taken to boost bilateral trade,transit, people-to-people exchanges and to deepen connectivity betweenPakistan and Afghanistan.
The diplomats also reviewed preparations for the second trilateral meetingof foreign ministers, which would be held in Kabul this year.
The first FM-level meeting was held in Beijing in December, months afterChina brokered the three-party forum. The mechanism mainly focuses on threekey areas – strategic and security issues, counter-terrorism and securityand economic development and connectivity.
Janjua also attended the SCO- Afghanistan Contact Group meeting. The SCO iscomprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan,Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
She reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continued efforts for promotingpeace and stability in Afghanistan, the Foreign Office tweeted.
She also underlined ongoing initiatives of Pakistan for engagement withAfghanistan in all areas, including peace and stability and promotingeconomic cooperation.
She highlighted the measures taken by Pakistan to enhance bilateral trade,transit, people-to-people exchanges and to deepen connectivity betweenPakistan and Afghanistan.
The Afghan, Chinese and Pakistani diplomats also reviewed preparations forthe second trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers which will be heldin Kabul this year.
The first trilateral FMs meeting was held in Beijing in December, monthsafter China brokered the three-party forum when Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi traveled to Kabul and Islamabad in June last year.
The trilateral mechanism mainly focuses on three key areas – strategic andsecurity issues, counter-terrorism and economic development andconnectivity.