China's ambitions to have a major hand in Afghanistan's stability and development under the Taliban, while boosting its own stature, will be on display at a pair of multinational meetings it is hosting starting Wednesday.
China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to send representatives to the main meetings involving neighbouring states.
A separate meeting of the "Extended Troika" will be held concurrently among special envoys for Afghanistan from China, the United States and Russia, China's Foreign Ministry said.
"China, the US, Russia and Pakistan are all countries with significant influence on the Afghan issue," ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said of the Troika meeting.
The talks will "echo positively with the third meeting of foreign ministers of the Afghan neighbouring countries, to further cement the consensus of all parties...To help Afghanistan achieve peace, stability and development at an early date".
