ISLAMABAD – Ambassador Alice Wells, with the US State Department’s Bureauof South and Central Asian Affairs, said in a discussion at the WilsonCenter in Washington, DC over the US relationship with Pakistan that“Pakistan takes steps to move away and to restrict the ability of non-stateterrorist proxies, the potential for our relationship to grow ever-deeperis there.”
“China has not been a real player in Afghanistan development” and “is nota provider of any significant grant assistance.”
She said that neighbors Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have donemuch more to aid Afghanistan with “regional connectivity initiatives” suchas cross-border railways, electricity lines and trade exchange.
However, Wells acknowledged that China can play an important role in thepeace process:
“Right now I would say I see opportunities for the United States and Chinato be important partners in reinforcing the need for a negotiated politicalsettlement, and you see Ambassador Khalilzad regularly consulting with hisChinese counterpart, among other regional actors.”
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These comments come as China is scheduled to host a peace settlementmeeting. The meeting was scheduled to take place last month but was delayedfor some reason.
The Afghan government says it has set up a delegation list to attend themeeting, but meeting time has not been announced.
