KABUL — Afghanistan, Pakistan and China are meeting in the Afghan capital to discuss trade, development and ending the region’s relentless conflicts.

Shahussain Murtazawi, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan president, says envoys meeting Saturday will discuss everything from regional economic development to counterterrorism. It is the second such meeting of the three neighbouring countries.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is attending the meeting on his second visit to Kabul since assuming office. Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused each other of failing to combat the Taliban and other militant groups that operate along their porous border.

China has lent tens of billions of dollars to Pakistan and the two have forged close economic ties as part of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” policy of expanding trade links across Asia. </s> ISLAMABAD: The second tier of Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral dialogues is being held today (Saturday) in Kabul aimed at discussing regional peace and strengthening economic and counter-terrorism cooperation.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reached Kabul earlier for the talks. He is representing the Pakistani delegation and is accompanied by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and other senior officials of the Foreign Office.

The Chinese and Afghan foreign ministers are leading their delegations.

A tripartite cooperation framework on counter-terrorism is expected to be signed at the meeting.

As cited by sources, the talks will be held in three phases. The first phase will have discussion about the political situation in Afghanistan and the negotiation process with Taliban, whereas the second will discuss regional cooperation.

The third phase will revolve around security cooperation, sources said.

The three foreign ministers are also scheduled to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Meanwhile, FM Qureshi during his day-long visit will hold bilateral dialogue with his Chinese counterpart.

The foreign minister, while speaking to the media ahead of his departure, welcomed the Chinese initiative of holding trilateral dialogue. "Both Pakistan and China desire peace, stability, prosperity and development in Afghanistan," he stated.

"We are carrying the message of friendship and peace to Afghanistan," he added. </s> KABUL/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, China and Afghanistan signed an anti-terrorism cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saturday during the ongoing second trilateral ministerial dialogue in Kabul.

The second round of Pakistan-Afghanistan-China trilateral dialogue is being held in Kabul to discuss peace as well as economic and counter-terrorism cooperation, reported Geo News on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who is leading the Pakistani delegation at the dialogue signed the document along with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Yi and their Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani. The signing was witnessed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Earlier in the day while speaking at the opening session of the trilateral talk, FM Qureshi said that Pakistan, China and Afghanistan will have to collectively foil the designs of enemies of peace in the region.

Speaking at the trilateral dialogue, the foreign minister stressed the need for bolstering regional cooperation in diverse sectors.

Reaffirming commitment to eradication of terrorism, the foreign minister said, “Better border management between Pakistan and Afghanistan and intelligence sharing will be greatly beneficial for both the countries.”

“Pakistan will continue to play facilitative role on Afghan reconciliation process,” he added. “We will do everything to support the growing momentum towards reconciliation provided others play their due role and share responsibility and create an enabling environment towards that end,” the foreign minister further said.

Qureshi continued, “Pakistan has always supported dialogue process for peaceful resolution of Afghan conflict and our stance has now also been vindicated by the international community.”

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his remarks said that his country desires to make the Afghan reconciliation process successful. “We will play our role to reduce trust deficit between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Yi said and added that his country also wants to further strengthen relations with Afghanistan and desires to make it part of CPEC. “We support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process,” the Chinese foreign minister said.

This is the second meeting of the three foreign ministers after their kick-off meeting in Beijing last year.

FM Qureshi is accompanied by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and other senior officials of the Foreign Office on his one-day official visit to Kabul.

Further, during his day-long visit, the foreign minister will hold bilateral dialogue with his Chinese counterpart.

Speaking to the media ahead of his departure, the foreign minister welcomed the Chinese initiative of holding trilateral dialogue. “Both Pakistan and China desire peace, stability, prosperity and development in Afghanistan,” he said. “We are carrying the message of friendship and peace to Afghanistan,” he added. The foreign minister stressed that peace is imperative to for the region to move forward on the path of sustainable development.

The one-day Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral talks held in Kabul Saturday yielded remarkable outcome since major players of upcoming polls in Afghanistan namely Dr Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah are in need of Pakistan’s support desperately for their contest.

Pakistan and China both have assured generous assistance for the wellbeing of Afghan people as both have announced to some significant projects in this regard. China has announced to lay railway line from Kandahar to Herat and other places afterwards while Pakistan will hand over two most sophisticated hospitals next year with state-of-the-art equipments being built in neighbouring areas of Jalalabad and Logar.

Highly placed diplomatic sources told The News/Jang Saturday evening that President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah had meeting with visiting foreign ministers separately. They lack cordiality in their relationship. Chinese foreign minister has assured Islamabad and Kabul that it would provide arrangements for the comfort of each other side’s visitors on Chaman and Torkham borders entry points.

The sources revealed that the trilateral meeting will have positive impact on the talks between Taliban and United States at an unknown place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today (Sunday).

According to original schedule the same had to start a day earlier. It is likely that the talks would continue for two days as Pakistan has been facilitating it on the request of the United States.

NNI adds: Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has hailed Pakistan’s role in reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Talking to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Kabul Saturday, he thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi for the cooperation being extended by Pakistan to attain peace in his country.

The Afghan chief executive expressed hope that the bilateral relations will touch new heights during the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On the occasion, the foreign minister said Pakistan will continue playing its positive and constructive role in reconciliatory process in Afghanistan.

He said peace in Afghanistan is important not only for Pakistan and Afghanistan but it will have impact on the entire region. He said both the countries have been dealing with the menace of terrorism for over forty years.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed confidence that the Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral dialogue forum will prove useful for peace and stability in the region and social development. </s> Afghanistan is set to host a three-way meeting Saturday with neighbors China and Pakistan to discuss peace as well as economic and counterterrorism cooperation.

Foreign ministers of the three countries will lead their respective delegations at the second round of the trilateral dialogue Beijing initiated last year to help ease Kabul's political tensions with Islamabad.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi said, "An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is set to be signed." He did not elaborate.

Pakistani officials say that a trilateral cooperation framework on counterterrorism is expected to be signed at the meeting.

China, a close ally of Pakistan, has lately deepened its economic and political ties with Afghanistan. Beijing is actively using its influence to bring the two uneasy South Asian neighbors closer.

Chinese officials say regional stability and security will discourage anti-China militants from causing trouble in the western Xinjiang region, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

China has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Pakistan over the past five years as part of President Xi Jinping's global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Chinese and Pakistani officials say they are considering expanding the bilateral China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, to Afghanistan, through road and rail links to promote connectivity and economic development in the war-ravaged country.

Beijing's ambassador to Islamabad, Yao Jing, told a seminar this week in Islamabad that BRI is aimed at boosting economic cooperation among regional countries.

"China's message to the region is that our resources should be used for our own developments and prosperity. We should focus on curbing poverty and disease, which are our basic enemies," said the Chinese envoy.

Pakistan says the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan will give it better access to Central Asian markets for Pakistani exports.

Political tensions, coupled with allegations that security agencies in both countries support militant groups that bring deadly attacks against one another, continue to strain relations between Kabul and Islamabad. </s> ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in Kabul to attend tripartite talks between Pakistan, China and Afghanistan aimed at finding a solution to sustainable peace in Afghanistan.

A Pakistani delegation led by the minister left for the Afghan capital on Sunday morning for the talks that would take place in three phases.

According to Geo News, Afghanistan's political situation and reconciliation process with Taliban, regional cooperation and security would also come under discussion during the talks.

Foreign ministers of three countries are scheduled to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, with Shah Mehmood Qureshi due to hold a separate meeting his Chinese counterpart.

Before leaving for Kabul, Qureshi said the opening of tripartite negotiations was a welcome sign as both Pakistan and China desire peace and stability and betterment in Afghanistan.

It is the second round of the foreign minister level talks that follow the first one that took place in Beijing last year. </s> Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and China met in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday to discuss trade, development and solutions to end the region's relentless conflicts.

The bitter relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan dominated the talks, with all three countries agreeing that a peaceful end to the war would have economic and trade benefits for the entire region.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused each other of failing to combat the Taliban and other armed groups that operate along their porous border.

During a news conference after the trilateral talks, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani said that Kabul had yet to see "tangible progress" from Pakistan "in the fight against terrorism".

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He said Afghanistan wanted to see some "specific measures" from Islamabad to end the violence, without offering details

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad wanted a fresh start in its relationship with Afghanistan.

"The time has come to move on, to stop pointing fingers, join hands for a future," Qureshi said. "If you want Pakistan to act for reconciliation then stop pointing fingers at Pakistan."

"One Belt, One Road"

China, which has hosted Taliban leaders in an effort to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, sees an end to the war as critical to its "One Belt, One Road" policy of expanding trade links across Asia.

It is the second such meeting of the three neighbouring countries.

China is investing tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan, and the two have forged close economic ties.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a key cog of that policy, under which Beijing has pledged $60bn to build power stations, major highways, new and upgraded railways and higher capacity ports to help turn Pakistan into a major overland route linking western China to the world.

Afghanistan's Rabbani said his country also wants to participate in the Chinese initiative.

Efforts to end the Afghan conflict have accelerated since the appointment in September of US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has shuttled across the region in an effort to revive Afghan peace talks.

He has reportedly held several meetings with the Taliban at their political office in the Gulf country of Qatar.

The State Department has neither confirmed nor denied the talks.

Afghanistan and the United States also accuse Islamabad of providing support to the Taliban fighting the Afghan government and international forces in the country. Pakistan rejects this accusation.

On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan confirmed that Islamabad was facilitating talks between the US and the Taliban.

The talks are scheduled to begin on December 17, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump also asked Pakistan to help bring the Taliban to the negotiating table in Afghanistan. </s> Beijing, Sep 6: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Pakistan Friday to hold talks with the country's new leadership to consolidate cooperation and elevate the all-weather bilateral strategic partnership.

This is the first high-level visit by a Chinese official to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. The visit by Wang, who is also designated as the State Councillor which makes him the top diplomat of China, comes two days after that of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo met new Prime Minister Khan and pressed him to take "sustained and decisive measures" against terrorists threatening the regional peace and stability. Announcing Wang’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the media that besides holding talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he would also meet top leaders of the new Pakistan government and exchange views on bilateral ties, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

"This is the first high-level visit between the two sides after the establishment of the new government in Pakistan. We hope that through the visit the two sides could consolidate our traditional friendship, all-round cooperation and elevate China-Pakistan all-weather strategic and cooperative partnership," she said when asked about China’s expectations from the visit from September 7-9.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic and cooperative partners. We are good neighbours, good friends and good brothers. Our bilateral ties have been developing with sound momentum. We have frequent high-level exchanges, practical cooperation moving forward and rich outcomes from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Pakistan's newly-elected President Arif Alvi, saying the strategic significance of the bilateral ties is "more prominent under the current circumstances" and both sides should support each other "more staunchly".

Wang’s visit also comes amidst reports of unease in Beijing over how the new PTI government would approach over USD 50 billion Chinese investments in various projects under the CPEC connecting China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan. Khan in the past criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lack of transparency and corruption in the CPEC projects.

Newly-appointed Finance Minister Asad Umar has promised to bring about transparency to the CPEC projects whose details remained closely guarded secrets. India has protested to China over the CPEC, which is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). </s> Beijing: China's top diplomat and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay a three-day official visit to Pakistan from Friday. This will be the first high-level visit by any Chinese official to Pakistan after the country elected a new government led by Imran Khan.

"At the invitation of Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, China's State Councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Pakistan from 7 to 9 September," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here.

Besides meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Wang is likely to meet Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and president-elect Arif Alvi and discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and bilateral issues. "He will also meet the main leaders of Pakistani side and exchange views on bilateral relations, regional as well as international issues of mutual interest," Hua said.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather, strategic and cooperative partners. Our bilateral ties have been developing at sound momentum. "We have seen frequent high-level exchanges and political cooperation is also moving forward and there are rich outcomes from the CPEC," the spokesperson said.

Wang's visit came after US secretary Mike Pompeo's flying visit to Pakistan. Pompeo met Qureshi and Khan before heading to India for a maiden strategic and defence dialogue. Pompeo and Khan pledged to reset the bilateral ties that have sunk to a new a low, especially after Washington, scrapped $300 million of military aid to Islamabad, saying Pakistan did not use the fund to fight terrorism.

India will keenly watch Wang's visit. The CPEC is one of the pesky issues between Beijing and New Delhi as its planned route cuts through the disputed Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

A commentary in Pakistani daily Dawn said "recent global and regional developments, including India's intensifying alliance with the US to contain China, has created a compulsion for Pakistan and China to further intensify their military and economic relationship". </s> Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the SCO summit in China, discussed expansion of bilateral ties.

Presidential Palace in a statement said that the meeting of the two leaders took place in Chinese port city of Qingdao on Saturday.

In the meeting, the two leaders emphasized expansion of bilateral political and economic relations as well as joint efforts against international terrorism and drug trafficking.

“The presidents of both countries assessed the economic and trade relations as positive and stressed on the continuation of economic cooperation,” the statement said.

In the meeting, President Rouhani said that he supports every steps being taken as part of the Afghan peace process to prevent conflict in bloodshed in Afghanistan.

This comes as Ghani is scheduled to take part at the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit where he is scheduled to deliver a speech at the summit.

According to President’s spokesman Haroon Chakhansoori, Ghani will also meet with the other SCO member state’s heads on the sidelines of the summit and discuss counter terrorism, Narcotics and Criminal Economy in the region.
Pakistani, Afghan and Chinese officials hold talks in Kabul aimed at ending the region's conflicts.