- Wang Yi, Rabbani, Qureshi likely to attend China, Pakistan, Afghan trilateral dialogue
BEIJING – Pakistan is all set to host trilateral dialogue on Saturday also attended by China and Afghanistan on Saturday in Islamabad.
Well informed sources have revealed to DiploMag that Consular Wang Yi, also China’s Foreign Minister, would be leading a high level delegation while Afghanistan would be represented by Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani or National Security Advisor of Afghanistan Mr Hamdullah Mohib.
“Actually the Afghan Foreign Minister had to attend the trilateral dialogue but due to the Afghan Peace Dialogue in its critical phase, it is decided that NSA will attend. But since the NSA has to leave for US to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, Foreign Minister may be asked to attend,” the sources said and added that any decision would be made today (Friday).
The sources said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would lead Pakistani delegation at the dialogue. Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to hold meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
This would be the third trilateral dialogue between Pakistan, China and Afghanistan which was actually initiated by Beijing in 2017 amid rising tensions between Islamabad and Kabul with an objective to help normalize relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and also start joint development projects in Afghanistan.
“Another objective of the trilateral dialogue was to convince Pakistan help Afghan peace process. This mechanism greatly helped in removing misunderstandings and normlaise relations between the two neighbouring states,” the sources added.
Trilateral Dialogue
Pakistan, China and Pakistan commenced Trilateral Dialogue in year 2017 and first meeting was hosted in Beijing to help remove mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Next year, Afghanistan hosted the dialogue where the three countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of joint cooperation for antiterrorism in Kabul in year 2018.
The document was signed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani. The signing was witnessed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Better border management between Pakistan and Afghanistan and intelligence sharing are also part of the dialogue besides cooperation for Afghan reconciliation process. Development projects in Afghanistan following peace dialogue is another common subject Pakistan and China would be discussing. China also wants to further strengthen relations with Afghanistan and desires to make Afghanistan a part of China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Crucial Visit by Wang Yi
The sources said that keeping in view the fast developments taking place in the regional perspective, Wang Yi’s visit is of crucial nature.
“This would be the first visit to Islamabad by China’s foreign minister who fully supported Pakistan’s request to immediately convene a special session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and take up an application at by Pakistan against Indian annexation of Jammu and Kashmir by India,” the sources said.
Wang Yi cancels India visit amid a new diplomatic row
Diplomatic sources have revealed that Consular Wang Yi has cancelled his visit to India which was scheduled to happen soon after his visit to Pakistan.
“Consular Wang Yi had to visit New Delhi after his trip to Islamabad but the visit was cancelled on New Delhi’s request,” the sources said. Asked to elabourate further, the sources said that India wanted Wang Yi to visit New Delhi before his Islamabad visit which was not manageable.
It merits mention that Consular Wang’s visit to Delhi was important to help normalize tensions between the three nuclear neighbours – China, Pakistan and India – over the Indian annexation of Jammu and Kashmir.
It merits mention that the cancellation of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to New Delhi may affect the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Delhi scheduled in next month. The sources said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would directly be leaving from Islamabad for Nepal where he is scheduled to meet top Nepalese leadership.
