‘Pakistan, Russia have shared interests to see peace, stability in Afghanistan’: Chinese expert

BEIJING: While commenting on closer relations between Pakistan and Russia, a Chinese expert on international affairs said on Wednesday that both the countries could play a constructive role to bring peace and stability in the region including Afghanistan.

“Both Pakistan and Russia have shared interests to see peace, stability and security in Afghanistan,” Senior Research Fellow at China Institute of International Relations, Jia Xiudong told China Global Television Network (CGTN).

He opined that the two countries could also use multilateral channels to enhance their dialogue as Russia, China and Pakistan had a trilateral dialogue concerning Afghanistan.

Jia Xiudong said that Pakistan was now a full member of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), hence both Russia and Pakistan could use this new channel to step up their dialogue concerning Afghanistan and try to bring Taliban back on the negotiating table.

On Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asi’s official visit to the Russian Federation and his bilateral consultations with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, he said, “Russia and Pakistan have warmed up relations for several years but certainly the latest US move concerning Pakistan has driven Pakistan and Russian relations even closer.”

He said that both the countries had not only agreed to enhance their political consultations but also increase their cooperation in economic, trade and investment areas.

“Both countries have agreed to build a pipeline to deliver natural gas and more fuel and energy to Pakistan and they have also geared up their defense cooperation,” he added.

To yet another question, he remarked that Pakistan and China enjoyed all-weather friendship and relations regardless of Pakistan’s relations with other countries, adding “China welcomes friendship between Pakistan and Russia.”