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China to join Pakistan’s ‘Troika Plus’ meeting on Afghanistan
China’s decision to join the meet in Islamabad comes 24 hours after Beijing said it was unable to attend the India-convened security dialogue on Afghanistan on Wednesday because of “scheduling reasons”, joining ally Pakistan in skipping the meet.
China will join an extended “troika” meeting on Afghanistan to be hosted by Pakistan on Thursday, which will be attended by senior diplomats from the US and Russia, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
China’s decision to join the meet in Islamabad comes 24 hours after Beijing said it was unable to attend the India-convened security dialogue on Afghanistan on Wednesday because of “scheduling reasons”, joining ally Pakistan in skipping the meet.
“China supports Pakistan in hosting the extended troika meeting. We support all efforts conducive for stability in Afghanistan to building up consensus in the world,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said at the regular ministry briefing on Wednesday.
“China’s special envoy to Afghanistan will attend the meeting,” Wang said without giving more details.
China’s special envoy for Afghan Affairs Yue Xiaoyong will lead a delegation to the meeting, Chinese state media reported.
China and Pakistan have been working closely in dealing with the new Taliban government in Kabul, which came to power in August, following a chaotic withdrawal of US troops from the war-torn country.
China’s snub to India on Wednesday’s security dialogue in New Delhi comes at a time when Sino-India bilateral ties are fraught over the ongoing military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
“Due to scheduling reasons, it is inconvenient for China to attend the meeting,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang had said on Tuesday.
Reports from Islamabad said Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and national security advisor Moeed Yusuf will chair the ‘Troika Plus’ meeting on Thursday.
The representative of the four countries will also meet Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Dawn newspaper reported.
Muttaqi is set to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday.
It is the first visit to Pakistan by an Afghan minister since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August, the Dawn report said.
In September, China’s special envoy Yue along with envoys from Russia and Pakistan, visited Kabul to hold talks with senior officials from the Afghan interim government.
Russian, Chinese and Pakistani special envoys to Afghanistan held another meeting in Moscow in October.
