Smooth Afghan transition

China concluded a two-day trilateral dialogue with Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday, which embodies the country's commitments to promoting regional cooperation and safeguarding the security of Afghanistan and the region.

The dialogue, the third since 2012, has enhanced communication and coordination among the three countries in response to the rapidly changing regional circumstances.

With US-led NATO forces withdrawing from Afghanistan before the end of 2014, the Central Asian country faces new challenges in the lead up to the withdrawal and in safeguarding stability and promoting national reconciliation afterward.

It is essential that countries in the region, which all have a stake in the peace and stability in Afghanistan, better coordinate their stances and provide support in one way or another so that the war-torn country can emerge from its long-standing unrest and start national rebuilding at an early date.

Given that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is the only viable platform for enhancing security cooperation in the region, it should assume a bigger role in building peace and stability in Afghanistan after the NATO withdrawal.

As a country with a long tradition of friendship with Afghanistan, China wants the country to achieve peace, stability and development. It is actively participating in the country's rebuilding process and providing assistance to the Afghan government and the Afghan people in such fields as infrastructure construction, human resource training, medical services and healthcare, culture and education.

Considering that both the capacity building of the Afghan government and its rebuilding process will need the support of the international community, the parties concerned, the country's regional partners included, should take the opinions and demands of the Afghan government seriously.

Beijing supports Kabul's efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It respects the development path chosen by the Afghan people.

China believes the principle of "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" needs to be upheld in the reconciliation process, and it will host the next Ministers Meeting of the Istanbul Process in 2014, which is further evidence that it is shouldering its international responsibilities and contributing to the international efforts to resolve the Afghan issue.

(China Daily 12/13/2013 page8)