Trilateral mechanism to help enhance cooperation among Pakistan, China, Afghanistan: Khawaja Asif

BEIJING, Dec 26 (APP):Foreign Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday said with the trilateral mechanism in place
between Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, a synergized effort would be made to stabilize bilateral
relations, bridge differences, and achieve tangible outcomes.
“I believe this forum will go a long way for bringing lasting peace in Afghanistan and enhancing
cooperation among our three countries,” he said while addressing a press conference along with
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Afghan Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani after attending
the first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue here.
He opined that the cooperation in the fields of economy, security, counter- terrorism and
connectivity projects would contribute to peace, stability, economic prosperity and development
in the three countries.
Khawaja Asif said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Belt and
Road Initiative, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, entailed several energy, infrastructure,
rail and road projects.
“The successful implementation of CPEC projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity
and cooperation through similar projects in neighboring countries including Afghanistan, Iran and
Central and West Asia,” he added.
Underscoring his support to an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process,
he said, “It is vital for bringing durable peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
The foreign minister said it was agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan was essential to
realize the shared objective of development, deepening connectivity and economic prosperity.
Pakistan, he said, emphasized the importance of border management, return of Afghan refugees
and intelligence sharing for effective counter-terrorism cooperation.
“We look forward to a response to our proposal for the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for
the solidarity and for early operationalization of five working groups,” he added.
Khawaja Asif said the peace and security in Afghanistan was critical for the peoples of two countries
to benefit from fruits of development.
He said the two countries shared a border and enjoyed the same culture, and added Pakistan was now
the largest trading partner of Afghanistan.
Responding to a question regarding sharing of a comprehensive plan for bilateral engagement with
Afghanistan, he said this plan was presented to Afghanistan a couple of months back.
He said this plan could provide a basis for a comprehensive cooperation between the two countries,”
adding, now, there was a response from Afghanistan.
He hoped that there would be a progress on the proposal and things would start moving towards formation
of five groups on different topics.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the Afghan government to hold talks with the Taliban for peace
and development of Afghanistan.
He said China supports “an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconstruction process,” and
encouraged the government to have talks with the Taliban.
The Chinese foreign minister also highlighted potential areas for practical cooperation with both
Afghanistan and Pakistan, noting the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative would bring more
opportunities for both countries.
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani thanked China for its efforts to promote cooperation
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and help improve security in the region.
He said while the terror threat remains, his country has pledged a zero-tolerance approach.
Earlier, during first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, the three sides reaffirmed
their commitment to improving their relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing
connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative, and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestation
without any distinction.
The three foreign ministers agreed to jointly work together on political mutual trust and reconciliation,
development cooperation and connectivity, security cooperation and counter-terrorism as three topics
of the trilateral cooperation.
The three sides re-affirmed that a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process, which
is “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned”, and fully supported regionally and internationally, is the most viable
solution to end the violence in Afghanistan.
In this regard, they call on the Afghan Taliban to join the peace process at an early date.
The three sides agreed to conduct win-win trilateral economic cooperation, with an incremental
approach, starting from the easier initiative to the more difficult ones.
The three sides agreed to continue economic development cooperation in areas of mutual interest,
and expressed willingness to strengthen people-to-people contacts.
The three sides reiterated their firm resolve to fight the menace of terrorism. They expressed their
strong determination not to allow any country, organization or individual to use their respective
territories for terrorist activities against any other countries.
The three countries agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism coordination and cooperation in an
effort to combat all terrorist organizations and individuals without any discrimination.
The three sides will communicate and consult on developing of the Memorandum of Understanding
on Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.
Pakistan and Afghanistan congratulated China on the successful conclusion of the 19th National
Congress of the Communist Party of China, and fully supported the initiative proposed by Chinese
President Xi Jinping to build community with a shared future for mankind.
Both the countries also thanked the Chinese side for the successful holding of the 1st
China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue and its warm hospitality, and three
sides agreed that the second China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue will
be held in Kabul in May 2018.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, along with their delegations, also held a bilateral
meeting and discussed bilateral relations and ongoing cooperation in different fields.