Pakistan FM in China discusses US troop pullout from Afghanistan
Foreign ministers of Pakistan and China have discussed new changes to the situation in Afghanistan.
BEIJING (Agencies) - The foreign ministers of Pakistan and China have discussed "new changes" to the situation in Afghanistan amid plans by the United States to withdraw about half of its 14,000 troops based in the war-torn country.
China s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that meeting in Beijing, the Chinese government s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a "deep discussion about new changes to the situation in Afghanistan and reached a broad consensus."
The ministry s spokeswoman Hua Chunying also confirmed at a regular press briefing that Qureshi met Yi and discussed the situation in Afghanistan.
"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," the spokeswoman said.
Qureshi, who is on a regional tour, arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday morning following his visit to Iran and Afghanistan on Monday.
In recent months, China has played a more active role in brokering peace in the region as stability in Afghanistan is critical to its "Belt and Road" policy of expanding trade links across Asia.
China, a close ally of Pakistan, has been deepening its economic and political ties with Afghanistan and is using its influence to try to bring the two uneasy neighbors closer.
Earlier this month, officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and China met in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to discuss trade and regional security issues. It was the second such meeting between the three neighbors.
Beijing has hosted Taliban leaders in an effort to bring the warring sides in Afghanistan to the negotiating table.
President Donald Trump of the United States has ordered the start of withdrawing some 7,000 troops from Afghanistan. The figure accounts for about half of the total number of American boots on the ground in the country.
China has not announced an official stance on the troop pullout. Pakistan has, however, welcomed the decision, calling it "a step towards peace" in Afghanistan.
The Kabul government has stepped up efforts to convince the Taliban to end the 17-year militancy amid Washington’s failures on the battleground.
The US State Department s special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, confirmed he had held "productive" meetings in Abu Dhabi with Afghan and international partners "to promote intra-Afghan dialogue towards ending the conflict."
Khalilzad said the Taliban’s demand remained an agreement over the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. The US, meanwhile, has sought assurances from the militant group that its forces would not be attacked.
The Taliban have previously said the presence of foreign troops is the biggest obstacle to peace in Afghanistan.
