rediff.com: China snubs Pak on Afghanistan

In a blow to Pakistan, China said on Monday that it welcomed all international efforts, including those by India, which could bring peace and stability to war-torn Afghanistan.

"China welcomes and supports all efforts that are conducive to a peaceful resolution of the Afghanistan issue," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said when asked to comment on whether China saw a role for India in resolving the tangle.

Pakistan had reacted strongly to Iran's suggestion during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last week that Islamabad should work with New Delhi and Tehran to resolve the issue.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Saturday ruled out any role for India in Afghanistan.

"The world community has identified eight countries which have a role to play in bringing peace to Afghanistan and India is not among them," Sattar, who was scheduled to arrive in Beijing later on Monday, had commented in Rawalpindi.

The United Nations has established a 'six-plus-two group' to try to broker an end to two decades of bitter war in Afghanistan. The six countries are Afghanistan's neighbours -- Pakistan, Iran, China, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The two are the United States and Russia.

Sattar's remarks followed Vajpayee's ground-breaking visit to Tehran during which the situation in Afghanistan figured prominently in talks with Iranian leaders.

With Pakistan being one of only three countries to support Afghanistan's ruling Taleban, Sattar is expected to be asked by his Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan, about developments in Kabul, diplomatic sources in Beijing said.

China has expressed its concern about the Islamic militancy in Afghanistan and its suspected links with an Islamic Uygur separatist movement in its northwestern Xinjiang province.

At the same time, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said she had not read a statement made by Prime Minister Vajpayee during his trip to Iran in which he described the Taleban as a "threat to regional stability".

Zhang pointed out that the civil war in Afghanistan had been going on for more than 20 years, which had not only made all the people suffer a lot but also brought a "negative influence" to peace and stability in the region.

"Therefore, we hope Afghanistan can realise peace at an early date," she commented.

The Taleban, which controls 90 per cent of Afghanistan, has criticised Vajpayee's statement in Iran and accused him of "hatching conspiracies" to destabilize the region.


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