The President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday said that Pakistan is ready to work with China for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
According to Xinhua news agency, during the meeting held in Islamabad, Qin Gang also stated that “the Chinese side is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with the Pakistani side on the Afghan issue in order to promote the peace and reconstruction process in Afghanistan and contribute to regional stability and development.”
Qin Gang is currently in Pakistan to participate in a tripartite meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and the Taliban.
The Taliban’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also left Kabul for Islamabad on Friday. The Taliban officials have said that Muttaqi will hold bilateral and tripartite meetings with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China in Islamabad.
Taliban’s Foreign Minister, who is under a UN Security Council sanction that bars him from international travel, has been granted permission by the Council’s Sanctions Committee to travel to Pakistan between May 6-9 for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.
The UN Security Council granted the request after Pakistan’s appeal to allow Muttaqi to visit and meet his Pakistani and Chinese counterparts in Islamabad.
Although no country has recognized the Taliban, China, and Pakistan have kept a growing diplomatic and economic relationship with the group.
Taliban foreign minister’s visit comes at a time when Pakistan has seen a dramatic increase in violent attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which have borders with Afghanistan.
Pakistan officials allege the attacks are launched from within Afghanistan territory by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed group ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban. However, despite the exchange of terse words between the authorities of both countries, Pakistan has continued to hold talks with the Afghan Taliban without officially recognizing them as the country’s lawful government.
