Pakistan And China agree to extend CPEC to Afghanistan
Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan have reached a mutual agreement to enhance economic relations by extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. This decision aims to fully leverage Afghanistan’s potential as a hub for regional connectivity with the backing of China.
The 5th China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue was held with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, and Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. During the dialogue, the ministers emphasized the importance of preventing any group from using their respective territories for terrorist activities against any nation.
According to Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan held comprehensive discussions and agreed to promote mutual trust, good neighborliness, security cooperation, counterterrorism, connectivity, and trade and investment.
The three nations issued a joint statement two days after their meeting on May 6th, in which they expressed their determination to fully utilize Afghanistan’s potential as a hub for regional connectivity.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. The CPEC is China’s flagship project under the BRI, aiming to connect Pakistan’s Gwadar port in Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province. India has opposed the CPEC as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).