China's Special Envoy for Afghan Affairs, Yue Xiaoyong, will lead a delegation to the Pakistan-hosted meeting on the Afghan situation on Thursday, and China supports Pakistan hosting the China, US, Russia-plus meeting on Afghanistan, supports all international efforts conducive to peace and stability in Afghanistan and building consensus among all parties, Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

 

China's decision to join the meeting came a day after Beijing said that it was unable to attend a India-hosted meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday due of "scheduling reasons". Pakistan also skipped the India-hosted meeting, the report said.

 

The Dawn reported that the Troika Plus meeting on Afghanistan will be attended by representatives from the four countries who will also meet Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Islamabad. Muttaqi arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday evening, the first visit to Pakistan by an acting Afghan minister since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the Dawn reported.

 

Zhu Yongbiao, Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that China, Russia, the US and Pakistan could have a special and comprehensive play on the Afghan issue, which has already been demonstrated through their actions.

 

The potential of future cooperation is great. For example, Russia could be the coordinator of Central Asian countries, China could make use of its advantages in manufacturing on the economic recovery of the war-stricken country, and the US could drive other developed countries to participate in dealing with the Afghan crisis, Zhu said, Global Times reported.

 

Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute in the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China, Russia, Pakistan and the US are likely to focus on the next step of the Afghan Taliban interim government at the Troika Plus meeting, such as how will the Taliban fulfill its commitment on building an inclusive government and what exact actions Taliban will take on counterterrorism, the report said.