14 June 2017

News Story: China Eyes Mediator Role To Ease Afghan-Pakistani Tensions

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Kabul soon where he will meet Afghan officials to discuss ways to improve Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, President Ashraf Ghani’s Office said in a statement late Monday.

Wang will work to discuss the possibility of organizing a meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S and China, according to the statement.

The statement was issued after Ghani’s meeting with women’s rights activists who raised concerns over the security situation in the country.

“It is the first time that China wants to be a mediator in Afghanistan’s peace process and soon the Chinese Foreign Minister will visit Kabul. Peace with Pakistan was our demand and this must be solved between government and government,” Ghani told the participants at this meeting.

In the meantime, Najibullah Azad deputy spokesman for Ghani told the media that “this time the quadrilateral meeting which will be held between Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S and China would be different compared to past meetings. At this meeting, Pakistan must support Afghanistan’s policy over fighting insurgency.”

He said that Kabul recently gathered evidence showing that Pakistan is supporting insurgency and shared this with NATO, the U.S Congress and other organizations.

Read the full story at TOLOnews