Pakistan, China and Afghanistan hold summit in Kabul to boost cooperation

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were received by Taliban officials on arrival in the Afghan capital, according to separate statements issued by Islamabad and Beijing. (FILE/AFP)
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Updated 20 August 2025
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Pakistan, China and Afghanistan hold summit in Kabul to boost cooperation

  • Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the talks will cover a wide range of issues, including political and economic cooperation
  • Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that Dar’s discussions will focus on trade, regional connectivity, and counter-terrorism efforts

ISLAMABAD: Top diplomats from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan are meeting on Wednesday in Kabul for a trilateral summit aimed at boosting political, regional and economic cooperation, officials said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were received by Taliban officials on arrival in the Afghan capital, according to separate statements issued by Islamabad and Beijing.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the talks, hosted by Kabul, will include “comprehensive discussions” on a wide range of issues, including political, economic and regional cooperation.

According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar’s discussions at the meeting would focus on expanding trade, improving regional connectivity and strengthening joint efforts against terrorism.

The last round of the dialogue took place in May in Beijing.

The latest development comes more than a month after Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan. While no country, except from Russian, has offered formal recognition, the Taliban have engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.


US Republicans back Trump on Iran strikes, block bid to rein in war powers

Updated 05 March 2026
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US Republicans back Trump on Iran strikes, block bid to rein in war powers

  • Republicans blocked prior efforts to curb Trump’s war powers
  • Prolonged war could affect November mid-term elections

WASHINGTON: US Senate Republicans backed President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran on Wednesday, voting to block a bipartisan resolution aiming to stop the air war and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by ‌Congress.
As voting ‌continued, the tally in ​the ‌100-member ⁠Senate ​was 52 to ⁠47 not to advance the resolution, largely along party lines, with almost every Republican voting against the procedural motion and almost every Democrat supporting it.
The latest effort by Democrats and a few Republicans to ⁠rein in President Donald Trump’s repeated ‌foreign troop deployments, sponsors ‌described the war powers resolution ​as a bid ‌to take back Congress’ responsibility to declare ‌war, as spelled out in the US Constitution.
Opponents rejected this, insisting that Trump’s action was legal and within his right as commander in chief ‌to protect the United States by ordering limited strikes.
“This is not a ⁠forever ⁠war, indeed not even close to it. This is going to end very quickly,” Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech against the resolution.
The measure had not been expected to succeed. Trump’s fellow Republicans hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, ​and have blocked ​previous resolutions seeking to curb his war powers. 

US Senator Ted Cruz speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2026, ahead of the vote on a resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran. (AFP)