KABUL: Beijing welcomes Afghanistan’s active participation in the Belt andRoad Initiative, a global infrastructure plan proposed by China, and iswilling to push for extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)to Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday as hemade a surprise visit to Kabul.
Wang met acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to discusspolitical and economic ties, including starting work in the mining sectorand Afghanistan’s possible role in China’s Belt and Road infrastructureinitiative, according to a statement from an Afghan foreign ministryspokesman.
China was willing to promote the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan, makingthe latter a bridge for regional connectivity, Wang said on Thursday .
He also said China hoped Afghanistan would fulfil its commitment of notallowing any external forces to use its territory as a tool to opposeneighbours, or harm the security of other nations.
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Wang visited Kabul on Thursday, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s foreignministry said, the highest-level visit by a Chinese official since theTaliban took power last year and a day after many in the global communitywere angered by the group’s closure of girls’ high schools.
China is among just a handful of countries, including Pakistan and Qatar,that has sent a minister to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over thecountry in August.
