ISLAMABAD – The Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi will pay a visit to Pakistan on June 24 in a bid to help reach detente between Kabul and Islamabad in the aftermath of recent terror attacks.
According to Dunya News, Yi will hold meetings with Army Chief Qamar Bajwa and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz before flying off to Kabul.
Sources privy to the foreign ministry verified the tour, terming it highly important as this is the first time that a Chinese minister will mediate between uneasy neighbours.
Apart from being a close friend of Pakistan, China is also concerned about the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project that would be fruitless if the security situation in the country is uncertain.
A senior official at Pakistan’s foreign ministry expressed last month that China was concerned about peace in Pakistan for the sake of friendship and for the huge investment it was making in the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
“They naturally want peace in Pakistan. They have always been helpful and we believe they can share our efforts to defuse tension with Afghanistan,” he added.
The official said that Pakistan was also in talks with Kabul to settle differences to achieve the goal of peace.
“Our main point is border management. If this could be done, we will have no issues in the future,” he maintained.
It is relevant to mention that the volatile relationship between the two countries worsened after a spree of bombings in Afghanistan.
The Afghan intelligence agencies blamed Taliban-allied Haqqani network and Pakistan for the deadly attack in the diplomatic area of Kabul that left over 90 people dead.
Pakistan rubbished the allegations with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa calling upon Afghanistan to look inwards instead of pointing fingers at others.
