Islamabad:
Pakistan, Afghanistan and China promised on Wednesday to strengthen joint efforts against terrorism when Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on the Taliban regime to take decisive and verifiable steps towards the forbidden Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (bla).
The Foreign Ministers in China and Pakistan traveled to Kabul to attend the trilateral meeting. This was Wang Yi’s first visit to Kabul since Taliban re -entered control of Afghanistan.
On the sidelines of the trilateral meeting, both Dar and Wang held separate bilateral conversations with the Afghan authorities. The Chinese Foreign Minister told the Afghan acting prime minister, Mullah Akhund, that he hoped the Taliban government would “pay special attention” to Beijing’s safety.
During the meeting with the Afghan acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister Dar raised the question of the presence of TTP, Bla and Majeed Brigade on Afghan Earth.
“The Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister recognized the encouraging progress of political and commercial ties, while expressing progress in the security domain, especially in terrorism, continues to hang behind,” reads a statement issued by the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
He highlighted a recent increase in terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, committed by groups operating from Afghan Earth, and called on the Afghan authorities to take concrete and verifiable measures against units such as TTP and Bla/Majeed Brigade. “The Afghan acting Foreign Minister confirmed Afghanistan’s obligation to ensure that its territory is not used by any terrorist group against Pakistan or other nations,” according to the statement.
DAR’s statement indicated Pakistan’s frustration over the lack of cooperation from the Taliban authorities to tackle the security problem.
While the Foreign Minister expressed concern about the security problem, both ministers expressed satisfaction with the positive orbit of bilateral relations between their countries. They greeted the recent elevation of diplomatic representation between the two countries from prosecutor d’Affaires to the ambassador’s level, as agreed during the trilateral meeting in Beijing on May 21, 2025.
Dar later joined his Chinese and Afghan colleagues to attend the trilateral meeting focusing on political, financial and security cooperation.
The three sides committed to strengthening the joint efforts against terrorism. They also confirmed their obligation to elaborate on cooperation in trade, transit, regional development, health, education, culture and control of drug trafficking as well as expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan, according to the Foreign Office’s reading.
Pakistan’s special representative in Afghanistan in a post on X said Pakistan, China and Afghanistan agreed to make joint efforts against terrorist groups, including TTP, Bla and ETIM.
Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi said in his remarks that the region has great opportunities for cooperation across different areas. He expressed confidence that if the three countries focus on mutual trust and practical measures, these options can be fully realized. According to him, the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan has made the economy the central pillar of its foreign policy, with efforts to transform Afghanistan from a country seen only through prism of security challenges to a hub for regional economic activity.
He also said that Afghanistan, China and Pakistan collectively possess enormous economic potential. In his view, it is important to exploit this potential in a positive and practical way without connecting economic issues with political or other disputes. He emphasized that the population of the region strives for peace and prosperity, which can only be achieved if financial relations are given the highest priority.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted in his address that China’s relations with Afghanistan are getting stronger over time. He emphasized that bilateral cooperation is no longer limited to trade, but has been extended to education, health, infrastructure, energy and several other sectors. Wang also expressed hope that Afghanistan will continue on the stability path and that regional economic corridors will open up greater opportunities for joint development.
Foreign Minister Dar also highlighted the importance of the meeting. He said that the trilateral conversations between Afghanistan, China and Pakistan are not only important for consolidating existing connections, but also serving as a milestone to pave the way to future progress. DAR expressed optimism that economic and trade cooperation between the three countries will elaborate on further and open new doors of prosperity to the population of the region.
The meeting participants agreed that the three countries need to improve mutual connection to translate regional cooperation into concrete results. They also promised joint efforts to remove barriers to trade and transit so that the region can move towards sustainable development and stability.
This trilateral meeting comes at a time when Afghanistan strives to stabilize his economy and redefine its relations with regional countries. Both China and Pakistan, the greatest neighbors of Afghanistan, bring additional weight and importance to this process.
