Beijing, Aug 25: Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, during her regular press conference on Thursday, said that the role of Pakistan in the Afghan issue should be ‘valued’.
“We need to value the important role of Pakistan in the Afghan issue and respect the sovereignty and legitimate security concerns of Pakistan,” she said, according to Chinese foreign ministry press release.
“The Chinese side is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the United States on the Afghan issue and make concerted efforts for achieving the peace and stability of Afghanistan and the region at large,” she remarked.
She further added, “The Chinese side is actively committed to promoting the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. We always maintain that political dialogue is the only way out for resolving the Afghan issue.”
The international community should support the “Afghan-led” and “Afghan-owned” reconciliation process, support Afghanistan in realising the widespread and inclusive political reconciliation, support the Afghan people in exploring a development path suiting their own national conditions and support the Afghan government in enhancing its counter-terrorism capability and combating extreme terrorist forces, added Chunying.
“China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and the two sides always firmly support each other on the issues concerning each other’s core interests. Against the backdrop of the complex and volatile international and regional situations, the strategic significance of the China-Pakistan relations has become more prominent.”On relations with Pakistan, she remarked that Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has visited China recently.
The Chinese side appreciates the efforts made by Pakistan to fight terrorism and safeguard the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and is willing to strengthen all-round cooperation with Pakistan so as to achieve common development, she added.
She also pointed out that Janjua had said that China and Pakistan enjoy ironclad friendship and no matter how the political situation changes in Pakistan, its friendly policy towards China remains unchanged.
The Pakistani side will as always firmly stand together with China on the issues concerning China’s core interests and join hands with China to advance the building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and continuously move forward the bilateral relations, she added.
