Kabul, 24 March 2022 (TDI): China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul today on a short trip to Afghanistan. This is one of the highest level visits from any Chinese high official since the Taliban took power last year. State news agency Bakhtar News Agency reports about the visit.

“Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul for talks with Islamic Emirate leaders,” Ahmad Yasir, a top Taliban government official, said on Twitter.

The visit also comes before Beijing is scheduled to host a two-day conference on Afghanistan from March 30-31. The conference will gather foreign ministers of six immediate neighbors of Afghanistan to discuss economic and humanitarian upheavals facing the Taliban-ruled, conflict-torn country.

Russian Foreign Minister is also expected to be there in the meeting. Earlier Pakistan and Iran hosted similar moots to gather earlier responses on supporting the humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Pakistan for three days where he attended the OIC Foreign Minister’s conference as a special guest. This was the first-ever presence of China in the OIC Summit and has been termed as historic.

On reaching Kabul, Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi received the Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two sides have held talks on the issues of mutual interest, focusing on China’s role in the peace and stability of Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi met  Mullah Abdul Ghani, brother of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Afghan government.  During the meeting, both sides discussed the expansion of Afghanistan-China relations in various fields, including trade, transit, and economic relations.

In his conversation with China’s Foreign Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, noting that Afghanistan has many mines, he called on China to take action in mining, implementation of development projects, and the start of the Aynak Logar copper project. Mullah Baradar stressed the need to expand the export of agricultural products, including saffron and saffron, and called for inclusion.

 

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