China to host meeting of Afghanistan's neighbours

Beijing, March 29 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will host the third Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's Neighbouring Countries this week.

Analysts said the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday will focus on humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and call on the US to return the Afghan people's assets, the Global Times reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced that Foreign Ministers or representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are scheduled to attend the meeting in Tunxi.

Wang Yi will host the meeting, and acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban-led Afghan government Amir Khan Muttaqi will attend.

The Foreign ministers of Indonesia and Qatar will also be invited to join as special guests, according to Wang Wenbin.

The meetings comes at a time when international attention has largely moved to the Ukraine crisis from the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The meetings in China will call on the world to continue to assist Afghanistan and pool resources for the war-torn country, Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies in Lanzhou University, told the Global Times on Monday.

"The neighbouring countries may also call on the US to fulfil its responsibility to Afghanistan, unfreeze the assets of the Afghan people and help with its rebuilding," Zhu said.