China directly mediating between Pakistan and Afghanistan – Foreign Ministry

Beijing is directly mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan, neighboring countries that have been engaged in intense fighting since February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has had phone conversations with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts during the past week, the ministry’s spokesperson Lin Jian said in an X post on Monday.

“The MFA Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs has been shuttling between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Jian said, adding, “China’s embassies have been in close communication with both sides as well.”

Making it clear that China will continue to facilitate reconciliation and ease tensions between the neighboring countries, the spokesperson said, “China hopes Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain calm and exercise restraint, engage face to face ASAP, achieve a ceasefire at the earliest opportunity, and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fighting for weeks after Islamabad declared an “open war” in February. Pakistan has struck military and other facilities deep inside its western neighbor, including the capital, Kabul.

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The strain in ties between the estranged neighbors is also attributed to Kabul’s increasing engagement with Pakistan’s longtime rival, India.

Earlier this month, China sent a special envoy to Afghanistan, after a truce brokered by Qatar and Turkey last October collapsed.

Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), allegations the Taliban denies. For China, the war represents not merely a security crisis but a direct challenge to its broader strategic vision for regional integration.

Islamabad has claimed that Afghan forces have suffered nearly 1,000 casualties in the latest cross-border escalation.