China, Pakistan and Iran held their first trilateral meeting on counter-terrorism in Beijing on Wednesday, a statement issued by the Foreign Office said.
According to the statement, delegations from the three countries held “detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region”.
Based on the outcome of these consultations, they decided to institutionalise the trilateral consultations on counter-terrorism and security for which further details would be worked out, the statement added.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry also said that the three countries had “in-depth” exchanges on the regional counter-terrorism situation, and decided to hold the meeting on a regular basis.
According to the FO, Abdul Hameed, director general of counter terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led Pakistan’s delegation while the Chinese delegation was headed by Bai Tian, director general of the Department of External Security Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry. The Iranian delegation was led by assistant to the Iranian foreign minister Seyed Rasoul Mosavi.
The FO said Hameed and Mosavi also called on Assistant Foreign Minister of China Nong Rong.
Last month, Pakistan had also held trilateral talks with China and Afghanistan in Islamabad.
At the 5th Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue in May, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his Chinese and Afghan counterparts Qin Gang and Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, respectively, had held productive discussion on matters of mutual interest, including political engagement, counter-terrorism, trade and connectivity.
