China’s foreign minister said Pakistani diplomats and senior Chinese officials held a meeting on Tuesday, and discussed the “new changes” to the situation of Afghanistan to end its 17-year long war, amid the United States President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw half of its troops based in the Afghanistan region.
According to news reported by the Reuters, the US officials said the president Trump has issued a verbal orders in order to plan for the withdrawal of about 7,000 US troops from Afghanistan. The Pentagon and the White House has further refused for a request to comment publicly on this issue.
A close ally of Pakistan, China had been strengthening its political and economic ties with Kabul and was trying to influence in order to bring both the uneasy neighbor closer.
China’s foreign ministry said the meeting held in Beijing, where the top diplomat of China government, state councilor Wang Yi and Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a “deep discussion about new changes to the situation in Afghanistan and reached a broad consensus”.
In a short official statement, Chinese ministry said, “Both sides believe that military means cannot resolve the Afghanistan issue, and promoting political reconciliation is the only realistic way.”
It further stated: “The two sides welcome the various efforts made by all parties and are willing to maintain close communication and strategic coordination.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated the statement but did not answered to question over whether the meeting had any connection with the US troop’s pullout.