China and Russia agreed to a multilateral approach to address the Afghanistan crisis.
During a phone call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping said China respects the sovereignty and independence of Afghanistan and will not intervene in its internal affairs.
Xi also said China is willing to strengthen dialogue with all international parties including Russia to encourage Afghanistan to have good relations with all countries.
Putin said Russia shares a similar position with China on the Afghanistan issue, and is willing to work with Beijing to push for regional security.
The two leaders "expressed their readiness to step up efforts to combat threats of terrorism and drug trafficking," the Kremlin said in a statement. The approach should focus on the "importance of establishing peace" in Afghanistan and "preventing the spread of instability to adjacent regions," it said.
Xi and Putin agreed to "make the most of the potential" of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that is due to convene for a summit in Tajikistan next month. Several former Soviet republics in Central Asia – where Moscow holds military bases – share a border both with Afghanistan and China.
In a call with regional leaders this week, Putin "expressed particular concern that [the so-called Islamic State (ISIL)] holds a strong position in Afghanistan, and this ... poses a threat."
Putin has also criticized the involvement of outside powers in Afghanistan's domestic affairs and said Moscow had "learnt lessons" from the Soviet Union's decade-long occupation of the country. The two leaders also talked about bilateral relations and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Source: CGTN)
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