China said on Wednesday that it will attend a meeting on Afghanistan convened by its all-weather ally Pakistan, after skipping a security dialogue hosted by India on the situation in the war-torn country, citing "scheduling reasons".
Pakistan will host senior diplomats from the United States, China and Russia in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan. The Troika Plus meeting will be attended by special representatives from all four countries, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Asked whether China would attend the meeting in Islamabad, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing that "China supports Pakistan in hosting the extended troika meeting".
"We support all efforts conducive for stability in Afghanistan to building up consensus in the world," he said, adding that China's special envoy to Afghanistan Yue Xiao Yong will attend the meeting hosted by Pakistan.
On Tuesday, Wang said that China would not attend the security dialogue on Afghanistan convened by India due to "scheduling reasons". He said China has notified the Indian side in reply.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday chaired an eight-nation dialogue in New Delhi which was attended by officials from Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
All-weather allies China and Pakistan followed a coordinated policy after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan backing the Afghan militant group and getting international recognition for its interim government.
