15 June 2017•Update: 16 June 2017
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Chinese foreign minister would visit Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to defuse tensions between the two countries, Pakistani foreign affairs adviser said Thursday.
"Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will first visit Kabul and then Islamabad in a next few days," Aziz told Voice of America.
The tensions between the two countries broke out after the Afghan capital Kabul was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks including a truck bombing that killed up to 150 people and left more than 400 wounded.
Accusing Pakistan of harboring terrorists, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed Islamabad for an “undeclared war of aggression” against Afghanistan, a claim rejected by Pakistan.
Last week, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Ghani held a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana, where both the leaders agreed to use bilateral channels to undertake specific actions against terrorism.
Sartaj Aziz, an adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on foreign affairs, said the meeting took place in a friendly environment and both sides agreed that leveling allegations against each other will not work.
Citing Ashraf Ghani’s office statement on Monday, Afghan television channel Tolo News reported that China had expressed a desire to take on a role as mediator between Islamabad and Kabul.
