China, Pakistan, Bangladesh hold inaugural trilateral ministerial meet

Beijing, Jun 20 (PTI) China, Pakistan, Bangladesh have held the inaugural session of their trilateral meeting of foreign ministry officials, Beijing’s new strategic initiative to promote closer ties between two estranged South Asian countries in India’s immediate neighbourhood.

It is the second such trilateral that China has established in India’s neighbourhood after its foreign ministers’ mechanism with Pakistan and Afghanistan last month.

On Thursday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, Bangladeshi Acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique and Additional Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Imran Ahmed Siddiqui attended the meeting held at the Chinese city of Kunming, capital of Southern Yunnan province.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch participated in the first phase of the meeting via video link, a Chinese Foreign Ministry press release said here on Friday.

In his address, Sun Weidong said Bangladesh and Pakistan are both good neighbours, good friends, and good partners of China, and important partners in high quality Belt and Road cooperation, the Foreign Ministry’s press release said.

Cooperation among China, Pakistan and Bangladesh aligns with the common interests of the three peoples, and can contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity, Sun who was a former Ambassador to Pakistan and India, said.

The three sides exchanged views extensively on China-Pakistan-Bangladesh trilateral cooperation and agreed to establish a working group to follow up and implement the understandings reached during the meeting, the press release said. PTI KJV NPK NPK