The agreement was announced by Foreign Minister Wang at a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 26. His Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, was also present. (Photo : Getty Images)
China has struck a deal with Afghanistan to boost anti-terrorism efforts, according to a report by China Daily. Afghanistan's stability is reported to greatly affect that of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The agreement was announced by Foreign Minister Wang at a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 26. His Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, was also present.
The strengthened efforts against anti-terrorism came as a product of the second meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group on Afghan Peace and Reconciliation, which was held in Kabul on Jan. 18.
Aside from China and Afghanistan, representatives from the United States and Pakistan were also present in the meeting.
Another byproduct of the meeting was the agreement to expand trilateral cooperation between China, Afghanistan and the United States.
Following the recent developments, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
China and Afghanistan's main goal behind the strengthened anti-terrorism efforts is to maintain the stability and security of both countries as well as the whole region.
"China supports all initiatives and measures that help reconciliation and the resumption of peace talks, as they are totally in line with China's security interest," said Wang at the news conference.
A reconciliation plan must be formulated by the Afghan government, in cooperation with its various political factions. The Chinese government, on the other hand, hopes the plan will get a positive reaction from the Taliban.
Ministerial level talks between China, the United States and Afghanistan about the Afghan issue are to be expected in the near future, according to Fu Xiaoqiang, a security and arms researcher from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
The three nations share a common interest: "preventing Afghanistan from becoming a source of terrorism," said Fu.
Afghanistan's stability is also a very important factor in keeping security in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Foreign Minister Rabbani also announced at the news conference plans to hold a third round of the quadrilateral talks on Feb. 6. Members of Taliban groups were invited by the Afghan government to negotiate and help finalize the road map for peace and reconciliation.
