Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the fifth ministerial conference of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan scheduled in Islamabad from December 8 to 10, while the Pakistani Foreign Office is waiting for a confirmation from Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday that Wang was invited by Advisor to Pakistan‘s Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and Afghanistan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani.
The conference aims to delve into strengthening cooperation, coping with security challenges and promoting economic communication.
The spokesperson said Wang Yi will push forward China‘s stance and policy on the Afghan issue and introduce China s efforts to help Afghanistan‘s peaceful reconstruction and national reconciliation. He will also talk about the measures China has taken to promote cooperation between Afghanistan’s bordering areas since the fourth conference, and its future plans.
She said China was ready to work with all sides to promote the Istanbul Process to play a positive role in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and for regional cooperation.
Inaugurated in 2011, the Istanbul Process is the only Afghanistan-related cooperation mechanism led by regional countries in an aim to promote peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. The fourth conference was held in Beijing in October 2014.
INDIAN CONFIRMATION FOR SUSHMA SWARAJ AWAITED:
Meanwhile, briefing the media, the FO representative Qazi Khalilullah said that foreign ministers from China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Afghanistan have confirmed their presence for the ‘Heart of Asia’ Conference slated to be held in Islamabad on December 7.
However, he said no confirmation of Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan has so far been made by Indian authorities. “The aim of Heart of Asia Conference is to counter the dangers posed by terrorism, drugs, poverty and extremism,” he said.
Khalilullah further said that comments made by the Indian ambassador in Afghanistan, about the meeting of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, were against diplomatic etiquettes.
“Pakistan expects all the regional countries to support the efforts aimed at the Afghan reconciliation process,” he said, adding that it is in clash with diplomatic norms for an ambassador to strain bilateral ties between his host and a third country.
Khalilullah said the FO was collecting details of 5,000 Pakistanis who are in Saudi Arabian prisons. He said 2,340 Pakistanis were arrested for violating Umrah and Hajj visas.