Last update: 03 May 2023, 04:55 IST
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 14, 2023. (AFP)
The Chinese leader is said to land in Islamabad on May 5 immediately after attending the 2023 SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in India.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to Pakistan this week for a first visit during which he will hold strategic talks with the country’s top officials and is expected to attend a trilateral meeting involving Afghanistan, according to a media report. .
The Chinese leader would land in Islamabad on May 5 immediately after attending the 2023 SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in India.
Dunya News reported, citing sources, that the Qin would hold strategic talks with Pakistani officials during the May 6 visit.
Pakistan and China are also expected to hold a trilateral meeting with Afghanistan to discuss the regional situation.
The competition would be held in Islamabad in the presence of Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
A UN Security Council committee agreed on Monday to allow the Muttaqis to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan next week to meet the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, diplomats said.
Muttaqi has long been subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under Security Council sanctions.
Chinese and Pakistani officials have both said in the past that they would host Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, which is part of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Afghanistan is a key geographic route for trade and transit between South Asia and Central Asia and has billions of dollars in untapped mineral resources. The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.
The Security Council committee authorized Muttaqi to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan to discuss pressing issues of peace, security and stability.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
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