Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Beijing and Islamabad are actively deepening diplomatic, economic, and security ties with Afghanistan and Bangladesh in ways that can reduce India’s influence.
China has positioned itself as a mediator and convenor on Afghan issues, hosting talks and framing its engagement as reconstruction and counter‑terrorism cooperation rather than zero‑sum geopolitics.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart from Pakistan, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, met in Beijing between January 3 and 5. After direct and indirect interventions from Turkey, Qatar, Iran, among others, China has now entered the arena – at Islamabad’s behest – to try and get Pakistan and Afghanistan to end hostilities.
“The two sides (China-Pakistan) called for more visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organisations based in Afghanistan, which continue to pose serious threats to regional and global security, and prevent terrorist organisations from using the Afghan territory for terrorism against any other country and to endanger any other country,” said the joint communique.
However, Kabul vehemently denies the existence of any terror groups in its territory, and claims that attacks within Pakistan are an internal matter for Islamabad to address.
China and Pakistan further agreed to build “an upgraded version 2.0 of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)”, which is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and “welcomed third-party participation in CPEC cooperation that conforms with the modalities set by China and Pakistan”.
Reports have earlier indicated plans of extending CPEC into Afghanistan.
China has also increased its footprint in volatile Bangladesh through infrastructure, military cooperation, and port developments.
