Senior Chinese and Pakistani diplomats discussed on Tuesday "new changes" to the situation in Afghanistan, China's foreign ministry said, amid plans by the United States to withdraw about half of the 14,000 US troops based in the country. US officials have told Reuters that President Donald Trump has issued verbal orders to plan for a drawdown of close to 7,000 US troops. The White House and the Pentagon have not yet commented publicly.
China, a close ally of Pakistan, has been deepening its economic and political ties with Kabul and is using its influence to try to bring the two uneasy neighbours closer. Meeting in Beijing, the Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a "deep discussion about new changes to the situation in Afghanistan and reached a broad consensus", China's Foreign Ministry said.
"Both sides believe that military means cannot resolve the Afghanistan issue, and promoting political reconciliation is the only realistic way," the ministry said in its short statement. "The two sides welcome the various efforts made by all parties and are willing to maintain close communication and strategic coordination." There was no direct mention of the planned US troop drawdown.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, speaking at a daily news briefing, reiterated the statement and did not answer a question on whether the meeting was connected to the US troop withdrawal. Wang visited Kabul earlier this month, where he pledged to help Afghanistan and Pakistan overcome their longstanding suspicions of each other.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said all the regional countries, including China, appreciated Pakistan's efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. "I have so far visited Afghanistan, Iran and China during my regional outreach. All these countries have endorsed our efforts for the resolution of Afghan issue," he told APP after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during his day-long visit to China.
The minister said he held an important meeting with the Chinese foreign minister and discussed the Afghan reconciliation process, progress on the recently held 8th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Belt and Road Forum (BRF) scheduled to be held in April in Beijing, forthcoming Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, Pakistan's exports to China and balance of support.
The Chinese side acknowledged Pakistan's role and assured their complete support for the peace and stability in Afghanistan, he said. "Chinese leaders understand that the reconciliation process should move forward." Qureshi said there was smooth progress on CPEC and all the speculations had been proved wrong. To a question, he said the purpose of his four countries' visit was a regional outreach on the Afghan issue and taking them into confidence over the latest situation regarding the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.
He said he held consultations with the leaders of Afghanistan, Iran and China. "I discussed new alliances and developments in Afghanistan and presented our point of view." The minister said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appreciated the entire peace process and expressed complete support, saying it was the shared and common objective of both the neighbouring countries.
He said during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran, the present similarity of views and common approach between the two countries was seen first time after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Pakistan was a close friend of Iran, he added.
Regarding his visit to Moscow, he said Russia was an important country in the region and during his visit to the country, he would discuss the Afghan issue with his Russian counterpart. Meanwhile, Pakistan and China held an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and regional matters, including the situation in Afghanistan. During the meeting held in a cordial atmosphere, Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated that the 'All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership' between Pakistan and China was deeply rooted in mutual trust and respect.
While discussing the evolving political dynamics in Afghanistan, the two sides underscored commonality of views on the matter.
Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that as neighbouring countries and friends of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China strongly supported Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
He also appreciated China's important role in furtherance of peace and development in Afghanistan, particularly through China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral mechanism.
Expressing satisfaction at the strong bilateral partnership, the foreign minister highlighted that CPEC had added an important dimension to bilateral ties.
He noted the important progress made on CPEC during the 8th meeting of JCC held in Beijing on December 20.
China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi appreciated Pakistan for its efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
He said China attached paramount importance to its relations with Pakistan and underlined that time-tested partnership between two countries is based on mutual respect, trust and strong bonds of friendship.
Both leaders agreed that the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan set the tone for further expanding the time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China.
They noted with satisfaction bilateral cooperation at multilateral fora and emphasized the need to further deepen communication and coordination at all levels.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi was assisted by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Pakistan's Ambassador to China Masood Khalid while Wang Yi was assisted by the senior officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing.
Earlier, the foreign minister was accorded a warm welcome by the Chinese Foreign Ministry's senior officials and Ambassador Masood Khalid when he arrived in the Chinese capital after the visit of Afghanistan and Iran.
He was warmly received and welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi before the talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
The US decision to pull nearly half its troops from restive Afghanistan was high on the agenda at a meeting between the Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministers on Tuesday. As China looks to expand its role as a peace broker in South Asia, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during an official visit to Beijing.
"The two sides agreed that a military means cannot solve the Afghan issue, and that promoting a political solution focused on reconciliation is the only realistic and feasible way," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing.
Earlier this month, officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and China met in the Afghan capital Kabul to discuss trade, development and regional security issues. It was the second such meeting between the three neighbours. Beijing has also hosted Taliban leaders in an effort to bring the warring sides in Afghanistan to the negotiating table. China has not announced an official stance on the US troop pullout. Pakistan on Saturday welcomed the decision to slash US troop numbers calling it "a step towards peace" in its war-torn neighbour.
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