From Mahnoor
Makhdoom
BEIJING: China and Afghanistan have pledged to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in order to benefit the two countries and beyond, media reported on Tuesday.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan Mohammed Haneef Atmar made the pledge in a phone conversation, with both sides expressing willingness to strengthen their ties.
Afghanistan admires China’s progress in combating the COVID-19 epidemic and appreciates China’s generous aid of medical supplies and sharing of experience in fighting the disease, Atmar said, adding Afghanistan will strive to protect Chinese nationals in the country.
The Belt and Road Initiative has received a strong response from Afghanistan and benefited the two countries and other regional countries, Atmar said.
Afghanistan is committed to jointly building the Belt and Road with China and lifting their strategic cooperative partnership to a new level, he added.
Afghanistan stays committed to promoting its peace and reconciliation process and has formulated programs over a comprehensive ceasefire and the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, Atmar said. Afghanistan highly values China’s constructive role and expects China to continuously work with other regional countries to push Taliban to reach a consensus with the Afghan government at an early date, he said.
Afghanistan also devotes itself to trilateral cooperation with China and Pakistan, and hopes that China will continue to help Kabul to improve its relationship with Islamabad, Atmar said.
For his part, Wang said China and Afghanistan have a tradition of understanding, trusting and supporting each other.
