China clarified on Wednesday that its plan to include Afghanistan into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and a recently held trilateral
meeting featuring the three countries does not target a 'third party'
and that the project will be beneficial for 'the whole region'.
The
inclusion of Afghanistan into CPEC, which will give China access deep
into Central Asia, was portrayed by some media outlets as China's
cornering of India; but Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua
Chunying, in a press briefing, insisted that such a negative perspective on the matter was uncalled for.
"The CPEC targets no third party," said Chunying. "Instead, it is expected to benefit third parties and the whole region."
"Trilateral
dialogue and cooperation does not target any third party and shall be
free from any external disruption or disturbance," she reiterated.
Regarding
CPEC's extension to Afghanistan, the spokesperson explained:
"Afghanistan is an important neighbor to China and Pakistan. It keenly
aspires to develop its economy, improve people's livelihood, integrate
with the regional connectivity process, and leverage its geographic
advantage to connect CPEC with the China Central and Western Asia
Economic Corridor."
"In order to realize a larger-scale
connectivity under the Belt and Road framework, the three parties agreed
to identify concrete cooperation projects through equal-footed
consultations to achieve common development and security as well as
regional peace and stability," she added.
Earlier this week, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan's foreign ministers had met in Beijing
as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to strengthen
relations and develop cooperation between the three neighbouring
countries.
