By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is hosting a trilateral dialogue in Islamabad on Saturday with China and Afghanistan, where the foreign ministers will participate in bilateral and trilateral discussions on a range of issues, including security and the economy.
Top diplomats from China and Afghanistan landed in Islamabad on Friday to attend the fifth round of the trilateral dialogue. During the day-long dialogue, the foreign ministers will participate in bilateral discussions with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Afghanistan’s interim foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, was granted a travel ban exemption by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) earlier this month to travel to Pakistan.
The visit by the Afghan foreign minister to Pakistan is seen as a continuation of Pakistan’s political engagement process with Afghanistan, while China’s involvement in the region is believed to be more to do with security concerns than economic interests.
The visit comes at a time when Pakistan is facing a dramatic increase in violent attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which border Afghanistan.
Authorities in Pakistan allege that attacks launched from within Afghan territory by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed group ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban, are responsible for the increase in violent attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,600 km-long (1,660 miles) border, also known as the Durand Line.
The government of Afghanistan wants to hold comprehensive talks on bilateral political-commercial relations, regional stability, and transit between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
China, Pakistan’s key economic and defence partner, has significant interests in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The country has invested heavily in Pakistan, with a headlining $60bn in the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
However, in recent years, multiple attacks by armed groups have targeted Chinese nationals and their interests in Pakistan. Chinese companies are also investing in Afghanistan. A Chinese firm signed a multimillion-dollar investment contract in January this year, the first significant foreign investment in the country since August 2021 when the Taliban took over.
Observers believe that China’s involvement in Afghanistan is more to do with security concerns than economic interests.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari urged the international community to “meaningfully engage” with the interim Afghan government.
“After being the playground for great powers, time and time again, we owe it to the people of Afghanistan to not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said in a speech in the Indian city of Goa.
The visit of the Chinese foreign minister to Pakistan is his first since assuming office. The two sides will reaffirm the abiding vitality of the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, develop a roadmap for multidimensional cooperation between Pakistan and China, and discuss the evolving regional and global landscape.
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