ISLAMABAD, 6 May. (DPA/EP) –
The foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan have met this Saturday in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, to address issues related to trade or security, in what is a rapprochement with the isolated Afghan Taliban regime.
“Political commitment, anti-terrorism, trade and connectivity” have been the subject of debate in this trilateral meeting with foreign affairs ministers, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has highlighted in a statement.
Islamabad’s objective is to promote regional cooperation through this type of meeting. “China wants to increase anti-terrorism and security cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan and jointly combat terrorist threats,” Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said after the meeting.
His Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, stressed that “the most important thing is the issue of terrorism, a serious threat to regional stability and peace.” “We want to collaborate trilaterally with the people of Afghanistan,” he stressed.
Qin and Bhutto Zardari had previously held a bilateral meeting and had “stressed” the need to provide continued support to Afghanistan through measures such as ending the embargo on Afghan assets abroad.
The Afghan acting minister, Amir Jan Muttaqi, sanctioned by the Security Council for belonging to the Taliban leadership, has been able to travel to Islamabad to meet with Qin thanks to an exemption and is also scheduled to meet with Bhutto Zardari.
