China pledges support for Pakistan's war against terrorism

BEIJING: China on Friday pledged its support for Pakistan's efforts against terrorism as foreign ministers of both the countries discussed regional and international situation.

Addressing a press conference along with his Pakistani counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Pakistan's people, government and the armed forces rendered unprecedented sacrifices against terrorism.

He said Pakistan and China stand together amid changing regional and international situation. He also welcomed Pakistan’s efforts for peace in Afghanistan and expressed Beijing’s desire for better relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said China attaches great respect to Pakistan’s interest and said relations between the two countries are stable.

Wang Yi  said peace in Afghanistan is in the interest of both China and Pakistan. 

Speaking at the press conference, Khawaja Asif said Pakistan and China support each other on regional and international forums.

He said Islamabad has profoundly reviewed US Afghan policy on South Asia and thinks that there is no military solution to Afghan conundrum. Khawaja Asif, who was on a first official visit to Beijing as the foreign minister, said talks and peace were the only solution to this lingering problem. 

He said relations between Pakistan and China are anchored in the history, adding that China is playing a positive role for peace in the region.

Wang Yi said on Friday there will be the first meeting between the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan by the end of this year.

"We have identified three priority areas which are strategic communication, security dialogue and practical cooperation.
And on that basis we will work on the tri-lateral cooperation starting from the easier matters, and with a goal of establishing a new platform for regional cooperation", he added.

Khawaja Asif said Pakistan seeks relations with its neighbors on the basis of equality.   

The meeting between the foreign ministers took place at the State Guest House in Beijing where they discussed whole range of regional and international issues.

Earlier, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi received him on his arrival in Beijing. 

National Security Advisor Nasser Khan Janjua and Pakistan's ambassador in China  also attended the meeting. 

Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif arrived Beijing in early hours of Friday at the conclusion of the three-day Envoys Conference, where he would meet Wang Yi and other Chinese leaders to discuss bilateral relations, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

He has been invited by his Chinese counterpart Wang Li, at a time when Beijing stressed that it saw this visit as an “important event between the two friendly countries which would further help implement the cooperation consensus reached between the two leaders”.

Earlier, The Foreign Office had released a brief statement saying that this will be a one-day visit, where the two sides will review the bilateral relations and regional developments, including the situation in Afghanistan.

The two foreign ministers’ meeting is of added significance as on Wednesday the Indian Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat threatened that he was not ruling out a two-front war with Pakistan and China.

The foreign minister’s visit had been planned earlier in the wake of a policy announcement by President Donald Trump in which he had leveled grave allegations against Pakistan and threatened Islamabad if it did not take the desired steps to eliminate terrorism.

The government had decided at the time that the foreign minister’s visit to Washington would be postponed and instead visits would be undertaken to China, Russia, Iran and Turkey to present its case garnering regional support.