Afghan aid needs stressed in Moscow

Talks aimed at addressing Afghanistan's needs wrapped up on Wednesday in Moscow, where calls were made for the international community to provide the war-torn country with urgent assistance.

The two-day talks took place under the third meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan, and drew representatives from 10 countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, in a daily news briefing on Thursday, said efforts should be made to promote a smooth transition regarding the situation in Afghanistan in order to realize peace and stability at an early date.

Wang said Chinese representatives had in-depth exchanges with their peers from the participating countries on issues including Afghan's overall situation, efforts against terrorism and the drug trade, security and humanitarian aid. They reached an extensive consensus on these issues, he said.

"All parties stressed that Afghanistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and the 'Afghan-led and Afghan-owned' principle should be adhered to," he said.

The parties at the talks called on Kabul to establish a broad and inclusive political structure, implement moderate and prudent internal and external policies and respect the fundamental rights of minority ethnic groups, women and children, he said.

Friendly ties pursued

Wang also said the Afghan government was expected to pursue friendly relations with neighboring countries and take concrete actions to combat terrorist forces in all forms.

He quoted the special envoy for Afghan affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Yue Xiaoyong, who participated in the meeting, as saying that China stood ready to work with regional countries to advance the political settlement of the Afghan issue, help Afghans to respond to humanitarian crises and synergize all kinds of Afghan-related multilateral mechanisms. In this way, efforts can be made to foster a sound external environment for Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction and sustained development.

In response to a question on whether China had officially recognized the Taliban's interim government as the country's legitimate government, Wang said China has maintained close communications with relevant countries.

Saying that the establishment of the new Afghan government was still underway, the spokesman said the international community was observing the situation and coordinating on the matter. Wang added that all parties to the discussions deemed it necessary to conduct dialogue with the Taliban.

At the meeting, representatives of countries including China, Russia and Pakistan had conducted dialogue and exchanges with representatives of the Afghan interim government in different forms, Wang said.