Pakistan, China support Afghan-led peace process

Beijing:  Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday and supported the Afghan-led peace process. The foreign office said two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and regional matters including the situation in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated that the ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ between Pakistan and China is deeply rooted in mutual trust and respect. While discussing the evolving political dynamics in Afghanistan, the two sides underscored commonality of views on the matter. Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that as neighbouring countries and friends of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China strongly support Afghan-led and Afghan owned peace process. He also appreciated China’s important role in furtherance of peace and development in Afghanistan, particularly through China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral mechanism. Expressing satisfaction at the strong bilateral partnership, FM Qureshi highlighted that CPEC has added an important dimension to bilateral ties. He noted the important progress made on CPEC during the 8th meeting of JCC held in Beijing on 20 December 2018. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi appreciated Pakistan for its efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. He said that China attaches paramount importance to its relations with Pakistan and underlined that time-tested partnership between two countries is based on mutual respect, trust and strong bonds of friendship. Both leaders agreed that the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan set the tone for further expanding the time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China. Both leaders noted with satisfaction bilateral cooperation at multilateral fora and emphasized the need to further deepen communication and coordination at all levels.