Chinese foreign minister holds talks with Sartaj Aziz over Afghan situation

Wang Yi arrives in Islamabd on two-day visit, may also meet Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz here on a range of bilateral issues as well as the situation in Afghanistan.

Wang, who arrived here today on a two-day visit, is also expected to hold talks with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Soon after his arrival, the Chinese minister went into delegation level talks with Pakistani side led by Aziz.

"All issues of bilateral and regional interest are on the table," sources said.

Earlier, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria during his weekly briefing on Thursday said that the Chinese foreign minister will discuss "all issues of mutual interest including the regional situation."

From Pakistan, Wang is expected to visit Afghanistan, in an effort to defuse tensions between the two neighbours.

The visit is aimed at defusing tensions between the two neighbours, media reports had earlier said.

Citing sources in the foreign ministry, Dunya TV had said that all bilateral efforts to normalise relations in the past have yielded no output and interference of third party seems mandatory to fill the void.

Pakistan-Afghanistan rift have deepened further after the Afghan government put blame of the recent attack in Kabul's diplomatic area on Islamabad.