BEIJING: China recently played host to a Taliban delegation as part of efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Representatives of the Taliban, who have been fighting for years to expel foreign forces and defeat the US-backed government in Kabul, have been holding talks with US diplomats for months.
The focus has been the Taliban demand for the withdrawal of US and other foreign forces, in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks.
Taliban negotiators have also met senior Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, including in Moscow recently, as part of so-called intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss their country’s future.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing that Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban representative in Qatar, and some of his colleagues had recently visited China, though he did not say exactly when.
Chinese officials met them to discuss the Afghan peace process and counter-terror issues, Lu told the briefing, without saying who met the delegation.
“China pays great attention to the evolving situation in Afghanistan in recent years. We have always played a positive role in the Afghan peace and reconciliation process,” Lu said.
China supports Afghans resolving their problems themselves through talks, and this visit was an important part of China promoting such peace talks, he said.
“Both sides believe that this exchange was beneficial and agreed to keep in touch about and cooperate on continuing to seek a political resolution for Afghanistan and fighting terrorism.”
China’s far western Chinese region of Xinjiang shares a short border with Afghanistan.
China has long worried about links between militant groups and what it says are Islamist extremists operating in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur people, who speak a Turkic language.
China, a close ally of Pakistan, has been deepening its economic and political ties with Kabul and is also using its influence to try to bring the two uneasy neighbors closer.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, visited Kabul last December.
Taliban delegation holds talks in China as part of peace push
Taliban delegation holds talks in China as part of peace push
- Focus has been the Taliban demand for the withdrawal of US and other foreign forces
- China pays great attention to the evolving situation in Afghanistan in recent years, Chinese official
Pakistan’s PIA enters into cargo deal with Air France-KLM to boost exports
- As per agreement, PIA’s freight division will gain access to Air France-KLM’s network of European, American cities
- Exporters will be able to use both PIA, Air France–KLM’s networks under a single air waybill, says Pakistani airline
KARACHI: The recently privatized Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a cargo agreement with global aviation group Air France-KLM to expand its global outreach and push Pakistani exports to more international markets.
The PIA said its agreement with Air France-KLM came into force on Jan. 15. Air France-KLM operates in 320 destinations and is a global aviation player in passenger, cargo and maintenance businesses.
As per the agreement, PIA Cargo, the airline’s freight division, will gain access to Air France–KLM’s global network. Through the deal, PIA Cargo will gain access to Air France–KLM’s global network via Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam.
Air France-KLM’s network includes major European cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, and New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles, the PIA said.
“Significant improvement is expected in the exports of Pakistani products and access to global markets,” the PIA said in a statement.
Exporters will be able to use both the PIA’s and Air France–KLM’s networks under a single air waybill, the airline said.
An air waybill is a document used in international air shipping that serves as a legal, non-negotiable contract between the shipper and the airline.
In November 2025, PIA and Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a Cargo Interline Special Agreement to expand cargo business and augment bilateral trade. The partnership aims to minimize logistical complexities in transporting commodities.
The PIA was Pakistan’s national flag carrier until a Pakistani consortium, led by the Arif Habib Group, secured a 75 percent stake in the airline in December for Rs135 billion ($482 million). Pakistan had previously attempted to reform the debt-ridden airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in financial losses over the years.
PIA’s new owner Arif Habib announced last week that the airline is in talks with aerospace manufacturers Boeing and Airbus as it plans to revamp service and expand its current fleet.
The PIA has said it plans to increase the airline’s fleet to 64 aircraft from the current figure of 19 over the next eight years.
