Chinese foreign minister outlines ways to solve Afghan crisis

Islamabad: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who arrived in Pakistan on a two day visit Thursday, outlined ways to solve the Afghan crisis, and identified four areas where Afghanistan had to be supported.

With the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghanistan has entered into an important period of transition, Wang said at a joint press conference with the Advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, according to a Xinhua report.

Outlining the four areas where Afghanistan needed to be supported, Wang said that first of all, effective governance by the national unity government of Afghanistan had to be backed.

The international community must respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and respect the development path chosen by the Afghan people in accordance with their own national conditions, Wang said.

Furthermore, the Afghan government needed to be supported in its efforts to bring about reconciliation with various political forces including the Taliban, he added.

Broad-based national reconciliation, which is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led was the right direction for the national unity and the long-term stability and security of the country, The Chinese foreign minister noted.

He added that the international community should support and encourage these efforts, and that China was ready to play a constructive role and provide any help that might be required by the various parties in Afghanistan.

Wang also said that there was a need to support the economic and social reconstruction in Afghanistan.

To solve the Afghan crisis, reconciliation was the key and reconstruction was the fundamental solution, he said.

The Chinese government was committed to Afghanistan's reconstruction, and would work along with the international community to help enhance Afghanistan's self-development capacity, Wang said.

Wang also emphasised on Afghanistan's integration into regional cooperation frameworks. He said that the Chinese government welcomed Afghanistan's active participation in China's “One Belt and One Road” initiative in the light of its own reconstruction and development needs.

The Chinese foreign minister referred to Pakistan as an important neighbour of Afghanistan and said that the two countries shared inseparable ties in terms of history, culture, ethnicity and religion, adding that Pakistan therefore, had special leverage and an irreplaceable role in resolving the Afghanistan crisis.

China and Pakistan would look forward to further enhance communication with Afghanistan and work with the international community for a smooth transition in Afghanistan, Wang said.