Pakistan, China, Afghanistan trilateral talks on Sept 7

ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers of Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan are scheduled to meet in Islamabad this weekend to discuss progress thus far made on the Afghan peace process and proposed CPEC expansion to Afghanistan, reported ARY News on Tuesday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani will visit federal capital for the meeting.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will lead Pakistan’s delegation at the meeting.

Sources said China Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) expansion to Afghanistan is part of the agenda to be discussed during the meeting.

The top diplomats from the three countries will also deliberate on the Afghan peace and reconciliation process and progress thus far made in regards to talks with Taliban.

At a trilateral meeting last year, the foreign ministers of the three countries had reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening their relations, deepening cooperation and advancing connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) and other regional economic initiatives.

A joint declaration issued after the trilateral dialogue in Kabul said they agreed to promote China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral cooperation under the framework of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative.

The three sides reiterated their strong resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and without any distinction. The three foreign ministers of the neighbouring countries agreed to jointly continue their efforts for building political mutual trust and support reconciliation, development cooperation and connectivity, security cooperation and counter-terrorism as the three areas of the trilateral cooperation.