By K J M VarmaBeijing, Dec 27 (PTI) China today said that its ambitiousChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not directed against Indiaand the project should not be influenced or disturbed by anythird country, a day after Beijing offered to extend the USD50 billion project to Afghanistan.
At the first trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers ofChina, Pakistan and Afghanistan here yesterday, China offeredto extend CPEC to Afghanistan as the three sides pledged tostep-up counter terrorism cooperation and not to allow anycountry, group or individual to use their soils for terrorism.
Besides Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hiscounterparts from Pakistan and Afghanistan Khawaja Asif andSalahuddin Rabbani respectively attended the meeting.
When asked about reports that China's plans to extend theCPEC to Afghanistan sparked concerns in India, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the project extensionis not directed at any third country.
She said the project serves the common interests of thethree counties.
"This cooperation is not directed at any country and anyparty. The dialogue and cooperation should not be influencedor disturbed by any country," she said.
Though Hua did not directly name India, she wasresponding to a question on reports about India's concernsabout CPEC, which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"We stressed many times, CPEC is not directed at anythird party and we hope it can bring benefits for thirdcountry," Hua said, referring to India's concerns.
The CPEC, a flagship project of China's prestigious OneBelt One Road, links its restive Xinjiang region withPakistan's Balochistan province.
"It is an economic cooperation programme and it shouldnot be politicised and has nothing to do with territorialdispute," she said, adding that the project will bring thebenefit to the third party and the whole region.
"Afghanistan is a common neighbour of China and Pakistan.
They have strong desire to develop economy and improvelivelihood. They are willing to integrate into the regionalconnectivity process and willing to integrate into CPEC," shesaid.
The three sides have agreed to promote connectivity underBelt and Road Initiative framework and follow the principle ofstarting from easy and smaller projects step by step toidentify cooperation projects for common development, shesaid.
During the trilateral meeting, a consensus has beenreached on eight point plan to bring peace between Afghanistanand Pakistan. The consensus included a security mechanism toenhance counter-terrorism cooperation to fight all forms ofterrorist organisations and terrorists, she added.
She said Afghanistan and Pakistan will promote theexchanges between their clerics and avoid the spread ofreligious extremism.
Under the trilateral framework of the dialogue, thecountries should follow the principle of mutual benefit andequal consultation, she said.
She said the three sides have agreed to stay committed tothe four goals - support Afghanistan's peaceful reconstructionand reconciliation peace process, help Afghanistan andPakistan to improve and develop ties, promote joint securityof the region, promote regional connectivity, and BRI.
The three sides reaffirmed their commitment to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned Afghan peace process. Afghanistan andPakistan have agreed to align their development strategies toBRI and actively explore the trilateral cooperation under it.
China and Pakistan have also agreed to provide assistanceto Afghanistan in areas such as public health, humanresources, and agriculture, Hua added. PTI KJVZH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.