Pakistan, China and Afghanistan agree to extend CPEC to Kabul

Islamabad: The foreign ministers of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan on Wednesday agreed to expand their cooperation in multiple fields, including extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Kabul.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Afghanistan acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi took part in the 6th Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue in Kabul which focused on political, economic and security cooperation.

The agreement on extension of the multi-billion dollars CPEC comes as Islamabad and Beijing are expected to launch the second phase of the project later this month during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office in a brief statement on X said that the three sides “committed to strengthen joint efforts against terrorism”.

“They also reaffirmed their commitment to deepening collaboration in trade, transit, regional development, health, education, culture, and combating drug trafficking, as well as, extension of CPEC to Afghanistan,” it said.

This is the first visit by the Chinese foreign minister to Afghanistan since the Taliban stormed to power in 2021 while the third by Dar to the Afghan capital since April.

According to sources, China has played a role in easing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In a bilateral meeting with his Afghanistan counterpart, Pakistan’s foreign minister claimed there was an “increase in terrorist attacks” in his country by terrorist outfits operating from Afghanistan, the Foreign Office said.

In the last trilateral meeting in May in Beijing, the foreign ministers of the three countries had first agreed to expand the CPEC to Afghanistan to boost "trilateral" cooperation.

India has been severely critical of the CPEC as it passes through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. New Delhi is also opposed to China’s Belt and Road initiative as the project includes the CPEC.