Islamabad (LTN NEWS): Pakistan and China both talked about how important it is for Afghanistan to be stable on Thursday, when Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met Amir Khan Muttaqi, who works for the Taliban government, for the first time.
“The two sides agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan were vital for regional development and prosperity,” the Foreign Office said in a statement about the meeting between FM Bhutto-Zardari and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi in Tashkent on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting.
The two foreign ministers talked about how important it was for Afghanistan to be “peaceful, stable, and connected.” They also said that Afghanistan could become the “hub for better regional trade and connections.”
Pakistan and China are both interested in Afghanistan from a geopolitical and economic point of view. Both of them were happy when the Taliban took over the war-torn country last August. Even though both may be fine with the Taliban running Afghanistan, their worries about security could cause problems.
On the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tashkent, Bilawal met with a Taliban minister. A Chinese envoy also met with PM Shehbaz.
China and Pakistan have been talking about extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan.
The FO said that Mr. Zardari and Mr. Yi talked about what was going on in Afghanistan.
Taliban have been trying to get the Pakistani government to make peace with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. However, Beijing is worried that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group of native Uyghurs who want to split Xinjiang from China, is active in Baghlan province, where it has re-established its base despite restrictions by the Taliban. The TTP and the ETIM are also very close.
Mr. Bhutto-Zardari and Mr. Yi also talked about relations between the two countries.
“The foreign ministers reviewed the progress in bilateral relations and talked about regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the FO said. It also said that FM Bhutto-Zardari emphasized that CPEC’s development had reached a new phase, with more emphasis on high-quality development of industry, agriculture, IT, science, and technology, while making sure that the people got real socioeconomic benefits.
“Both sides reaffirmed their strong support for each other’s core interests and major concerns, as well as their commitment to deepening strategic communication, including at the highest political level, and practical cooperation,” the FO said.
In Tashkent, the foreign minister also met with Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is the Taliban’s foreign minister. During the foreign minister’s first meeting with Mr. Muttaqi, he reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. He also said that it was important to get people to talk to each other, help people in need, and increase trade and transit.
At the same time, the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the city of Islamabad.
This was the first time the Chinese envoy met with PM Sharif because the Chinese envoy was on vacation when PM Sharif took over from Imran Khan, who had been fired by a vote of no confidence.
The PMO said that Mr. Sharif talked about how important key projects like ML-1 and KCR are to Pakistan’s development plans. He also said that he wanted to make progress on finishing these projects at the 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee.
