From Mahnoor Makhdoom
BEIJING: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will visit Pakistan from May 5 to 6 and attend the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue in Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning announced on Thursday.
Sharing the relevant arrangements for the visit, she said that this is the first visit of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang to Pakistan.
She remarked that the visit of Qin Gang is also an important part of the recent intensive interaction between China and Pakistan.
During the visit, the China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister will meet with the leaders of Pakistan, and co-chair the fourth strategic dialogue between the foreign ministers of China and Pakistan with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
“Qin Gang will conduct face-to-face and in-depth communication on the relations between the two countries and the international and regional situation,” she added.
Mao Ning said that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and “hardcore” friends, and the friendship between the two countries has been strong for a long time.
In November last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China, and the leaders of the two countries pointed out the direction for the development of China-Pakistan relations, she added.
The spokesperson said that the prime ministers of the two countries just held a telephone call on April 27 and added, that China looks forward to promoting the implementation of the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries through this visit, further deepening the strategic communication and practical cooperation between China and Pakistan, promote the construction of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, and make positive contributions to the region and even the world. On China-Afghanistan-Pakistan FMs dialogue, she said that at present, the Afghan people have gone through the most difficult period, but they are still facing serious challenges and urgently need more support and help from the outside world.
She said that the international community should strengthen contact and dialogue with the Afghan interim government, support its reconstruction and development, and guide it to be inclusive, moderate, good-neighbourly, friendly and resolute in anti-terrorism.
Mao Ning said that the meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries and the dialogue between the foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan are important platforms for exchanges and cooperation on Afghanistan-related issues, which helps to gather the consensus of regional countries on the Arab issue.
“China looks forward to exchanging views with Afghanistan and Pakistan on the situation and trilateral cooperation through this dialogue between China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, expanding the consensus of the three countries, consolidating mutual trust between the three parties, and working together to promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity,” she added.
