China, US training Afghan diplomats

A group of young Afghan diplomats began a two-week training session here Monday as part of a joint programme co-organised by the US and China.

This is the third year the US and China have partnered to train early-career Kabul diplomats, who visit the two countries in order to develop their diplomatic, communications and management skills, Xinhua reported.

The group, which participated in a two-week training programme in Beijing in May, will learn more about US policy regarding Afghanistan, US-China relations, and the way foreign policy is made in the US while in Washington.

"I'm happy that the US and China have come to see support for Afghanistan's sovereignty and economic development as an area of common interest and action," US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman said at the opening ceremony of the training programme in the US.

The joint programme is a "good example of how the new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States can contribute to the region," said Wu Xi, minister of Chinese Embassy in the US, referring to the consensus reached by the leaders of China and the United States on bilateral relations.

Describing the training as being "useful and productive", Ahmad Nawid Ariayl, a participant of past programmes, said he had benefited from past sessions especially on communications and negotiation skills.

During their two-week stay, the Afghan diplomats are also scheduled to visit the Chinese and Afghan embassies, tour Washington, D.C., meet with diplomats and scholars from various think tanks, practice diplomatic simulations at the University of Maryland, and visit the UN and the Afghan consulate in New York City.