Qureshi Meets Chinese, Russian, Iranian Counterparts

ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that Pakistan will continue to play key peace role in Afghanistan. The FM met his Chinese, Russian and Iranian counterparts in Beijing in the sidelines of the regional meeting on Afghanistan. The foreign minister and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a bilateral meeting in Tunxi district, Huangshan, China. The foreign minister is visiting China to attend the third meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries from 29-31 March 2022. He is accompanied by the foreign secretary and Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan. The two foreign ministers exchanged views on Pak-China bilateral strategic, economic and security cooperation. Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed that the relations with China was the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and reaffirmed the government’s resolve to further deepen the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. He reiterated Pakistan’s firm adherence to the ‘One-China’ policy and continued support on issues of China’s core interests, and thanked China for its consistent support to Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, political stability and socio-economic development. He highlighted that the leaders’ consensus was translating into high-quality development of CPEC Phase-II, and burgeoning cooperation in diverse areas of cooperation like industrial development, agricultural modernisation and information technology.