China, Pakistan, Afghanistan resolve to fight terrorism, reaffirm commitment under CPEC

China, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday agreed not to allow any country, group or individual to use their territories for terrorism as their foreign ministers discussed development, security and counter-terrorism during their first such trilateral dialogue in Beijing. The three sides reiterated their firm resolve to fight the menace of terrorism, according to the joint statement shared by Pakistan’s Foreign Office after the meeting.

It was the first meeting of its kind since the three countries agreed to establish a trilateral dialogue mechanism in June. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue in Beijing with his Afghanistan and Pakistan counterparts — Salahuddin Rabbani and Khawaja Muhammad Asif respectively.

“They expressed their strong determination not to allow any country, organisation or individual to use their respective territories for terrorist activities against any other countries,” it reads. They agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism coordination and cooperation in an effort to combat all terrorist organisations and individuals without any discrimination. They reaffirmed that a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process, which is “Afghan-led, Afghan-own”, and fully supported regionally and internationally, is the most viable solution to end the violence in Afghanistan. Also Read: China, Pakistan to look at including Afghanistan in $57 bln economic corridor

“In this regard, they call on the Afghan Taliban to join the peace process at an early date,” the statement said. The three countries agreed to conduct win-win trilateral economic cooperations, with an incremental approach, starting from the easier initiative to the more difficult ones. They reaffirmed their commitment to improving their relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestation without any distinction.

They agreed to jointly work together on political mutual trust and reconciliation, development cooperation and connectivity, security cooperation and counter-terrorism as the three topics of the trilateral cooperation. The second China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue will be held in Kabul next year.