25 June 2017•Update: 26 June 2017
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
China, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to establish a foreign ministers' dialogue mechanism, said a trilateral joint statement on Sunday.
According to the statement, the three parties were committed to maintaining regional peace and stability, "enhancing regional connectivity and economic cooperation and promoting shared security and development".
Afghanistan and Pakistan will also form a crisis management mechanism, which will include prevention through timely and effective intelligence and information-sharing, said the statement.
"This will enable the two sides to maintain timely and effective communications for counter-terrorism and other emergencies," it added.
The three parties also agreed to revive Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) to create an enabling environment for peace talks with Afghan Taliban, according to the consensus.
Afghanistan-Pakistan-US-China Quadrilateral Coordination Group met for the first time in January and May 2016 to convince Afghan Taliban for peace talks but the process remained ineffective.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Adviser for Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz held a joint press conference in Islamabad.
Wang praised Pakistan's role in the fight against terror, saying Pakistan has rendered huge sacrifices in its fight against terror and the world should recognize it.
"We acknowledge these sacrifices and will always support and stand with Pakistan," Wang said.
Aziz, for his part, thanked China for its support and constructive proposals to promote peace and stability in the region.
"Pakistan welcomes China's proposal to conduct a foreign ministers dialogue to discuss all aspects of Pakistan and Afghanistan relations with special focus on economic cooperation," Aziz told the reporters.
Wang concluded his two-day Pakistan-Afghanistan visit, which came as part of Chinese leadership mediation efforts to normalize Pakistani-Afghan relations.
