Islamabad:
Representatives of Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran met on Moscow on Monday to coordinate their positions before the seventh round of consultations in Moscow’s format on Afghanistan, which is expected to start on Tuesday (today).
The meeting brought together special envoys from the four regional powers for detailed discussions on the situation in Afghanistan, in particular the ongoing security challenges and the threat of terrorism.
According to a statement published by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting with four parties focused on the preparations for the Tuesday session, including the drafting of the final press release in the format.
Sources have said that participants also discussed their joint opposition to the creation of foreign military bases in Afghanistan, a subject that should appear prominently at the main meeting.
Earlier, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, held a series of bilateral meetings in Moscow before consultations.
He met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan, shared regional concerns, in particular the persistent threat of terrorism and stressed the importance of continuous dialogue and coordination between neighboring countries.
Ambassador Sadiq also met the special envoy of China for Afghanistan, the ambassador Yue Xiaoyong, where the two parties reaffirmed the importance of regional security cooperation, the coordination of the fight against terrorism and the need to respond to humanitarian concerns in Afghanistan by collective action.
According to Ambassador Sadiq, the meeting underlined the solid partnership between Islamabad and Beijing to promote stability and development in the region.
In addition, Sadiq met his Russian counterpart, ambassador Zamir Kabulov, to discuss measures to improve regional cooperation in Afghanistan. Pakistan ambassador to Kabul, Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani, was also present at the meeting.
Launched in 2017 by Russia, Moscow’s format on Afghanistan is one of the most important regional diplomatic platforms concerning the Afghan issue. It brings together the immediate and extended neighbors of Afghanistan to deliberate on political reconciliation, the fight against terrorism and humanitarian concerns in the country torn by the war.
The main members of the format include Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the Central Asian States: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
