Tripartite talks: Pakistan signs anti-terrorism cooperation MoU with China, Afghanistan

KABUL: Pakistan, China and Afghanistan signed an anti-terrorism cooperation Memorandum of Understanding on Saturday during the ongoing second trilateral ministerial dialogue in Kabul. 

The second round of Pakistan-Afghanistan-China trilateral dialogue is being held in Kabul to discuss peace as well as economic and counter-terrorism cooperation.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who is leading the Pakistani delegation at the dialogue signed the document along with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Yi and their Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani.

The signing was witnessed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Earlier in the day while speaking at the opening session of the trilateral talk, FM Qureshi said that Pakistan, China and Afghanistan will have to collectively foil the designs of enemies of peace in the region.

Speaking at the trilateral dialogue, the foreign minister stressed the need for bolstering regional cooperation in diverse sectors.

Reaffirming commitment to eradication of terrorism, the foreign minister said, "Better border management between Pakistan and Afghanistan and intelligence sharing will be greatly beneficial for both the countries."

"Pakistan will continue to play facilitative role on Afghan reconciliation process," he added. "We will do everything to support the growing momentum towards reconciliation provided others play their due role and share responsibility and create an enabling environment towards that end," the foreign minister further said.

Qureshi continued, "Pakistan has always supported dialogue process for peaceful resolution of Afghan conflict and our stance has now also been vindicated by the international community. "

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his remarks said that his country desires to make the Afghan reconciliation process successful. "We will play our role to reduce trust deficit between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Yi said and added that his country also wants to further strengthen relations with Afghanistan and desires to make it part of CPEC.

"We support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process," the Chinese foreign minister said.

This is the second meeting of the three foreign ministers after their kick-off meeting in Beijing last year. 

FM Qureshi is accompanied by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and other senior officials of the Foreign Office on his one-day offical visit to Kabul.

Further, during his day-long visit, the foreign minister will hold bilateral dialogue with his Chinese counterpart. 

Speaking to the media ahead of his departure, the foreign minister welcomed the Chinese initiative of holding trilateral dialogue. "Both Pakistan and China desire peace, stability, prosperity and development in Afghanistan," he said. 

"We are carrying the message of friendship and peace to Afghanistan," he added. The foreign minister stressed that peace is imperative to for the region to move forward on the path of sustainable development.