BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th May, 2023) China is ready to strengthen coordination with Pakistan on the Afghan issue and facilitate the process of peaceful restoration in the country, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said.
Qin is paying an official visit to Pakistan from May 5-6 to hold talks with Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Afghan counterparts, as well as partake in the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue.
"China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan on the Afghan issue, facilitate the process of peaceful reconstruction in Afghanistan, as well as stability and progress in the region," Qin was quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying.
The Chinese foreign minister also said that the Chinese-Pakistani cooperation was aimed at the global development and security initiatives.
The previous meeting of China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue was held in July 2021 in the Chinese city of Chengdu.
An interim Afghan government led by the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) came to power in the fall of 2021 after the withdrawal of US troops from the country and the collapse of the US-backed government. The Taliban takeover has heightened the fears of the Central Asian nations concerning the spread of radical fundamental Islamic ideas, as happened in 1996 when the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan for five years.
The country has since been facing deteriorating economic conditions and food shortages, exacerbated by sanctions and a US freeze on national assets, bringing Afghanistan to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
