India and China to join hands
India and China on Friday agreed to join hands to work closely on the ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had announced on Twitter that Chinese Special Envoy Ambassador Deng Xijun had a meeting with the Indian officials in the presence of Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. The meeting was held to discuss peace and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.
Taking to Twitter, he said, "Chinese Special Envoy Ambassador Deng Xijun today held discussions with Indian officials on the situation in Afghanistan, including peace and reconciliation efforts. He also called on Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale."
His another tweet regarding the issue read, "The two sides agreed to consult closely the evolving situation in Afghanistan and carry forward the decision taken by the leadership of the two countries on joint cooperation in Afghanistan."
This is not the first time that India and China are involving Afghan peace efforts. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, where the two agreed to collaborate on Afghanistan's peace efforts in order to boost mutual trust between India and China.
The meeting was followed by the 73-day standoff in Bhutan's Doklam plateau in 2017, which strained bilateral ties.
India has been a key stakeholder in Afghan's peace and reconciliation process and has been pushing for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.
India had also participated in a non-official level talks on Afghanistan peace process which was held in Moscow in November last year.
Although, India has a policy of not engaging with the terror group, the meeting which was attended by two former diplomats from New Delhi.
