Chinese, Pakistani FMs hold phone talks over bilateral ties, Afghan issue

BEIJING - Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that he expects China and Pakistan to take the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties to open up a brighter prospect for bilateral relations.

In a telephone conversation with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Wang said the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan is unique, and China-Pakistan relations have become a model of friendly cooperation between countries.

Wang noted that over the past 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two sides have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests.

Wang stressed that China will continue to stand firmly with Pakistan in the face of the pandemic until Pakistan completely wins the battle against the epidemic.

China has always given priority to Pakistan in its vaccine cooperation, and stands ready to provide more support to Pakistan in its fight against the pandemic and provide maximum convenience for Pakistan's purchase of anti-epidemic materials in China, Wang said.

China is ready to work with Pakistan to step up efforts to implement the outcomes of the video conference of foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on COVID-19 and play a bigger role in regional economic recovery, Wang added.

Wang said that the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has severely impacted the Afghan domestic peace process and negatively affected regional stability.

Under such circumstances, China expects the United Nations to play its due role, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to pay more attention to the situation, and Afghanistan's neighbors to strengthen communication, speak with one voice and take coordinated actions, Wang said.

Noting that Pakistan has an important traditional influence on the Afghan issue, Wang said China recognizes and appreciates Pakistan's efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan and calls for all parties in Afghanistan to reach a political arrangement acceptable to all sides under the "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" framework and jointly seek a development path suited to Afghanistan's national conditions.

Under the current circumstances, China and Pakistan should continue to strengthen strategic coordination in order to exert a more positive influence on the peace process in Afghanistan and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, Wang said.

For his part, Qureshi congratulated the landing of China's Tianwen-1 probe on Mars, and said bilateral relations have achieved fruitful results since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

The Pakistani foreign minister said his country hopes to jointly celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and push forward the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China.

He thanked China for its strong support for Pakistan's fight against COVID-19 and expressed hope that his country would continue to enhance anti-epidemic cooperation with China.

Pakistan appreciates the joint statement on the Afghan issue issued at the China+Central Asia foreign ministers' meeting, and maintains that US and NATO troops should leave Afghanistan in an orderly and responsible manner, and supports Afghanistan's neighboring countries in playing a bigger role in pushing forward the peace process in Afghanistan, Qureshi said.

Pakistan stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China under the framework of such mechanisms as Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral dialogue to jointly push forward the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, Qureshi added.