BEIJING: A prominent Chinese scholar has emphasised that in the long run China, Pakistan and Afghanistan need to form a Pamir group, a strategic trilateral partnership to support sustainable peace and prosperity in the region.The Pamir Mountains include the Tianshan, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges. In the Pamir region, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan not only have common landscape, they also share a history and culture.For thousands of years, the Pamir passes have served as the crossroads of goods, ideas, cultures and religions between China, the Arab world and Europe.The Pamir countries could revive the Silk Road with China intensifying its investment in building a network of roads, energy pipelines, electric grids and other infrastructure connecting Afghanistan, and Pakistan with China.
The wars and killings in Afghanistan not only harm the national interests of the country, but also endanger regional development and cooperation. Within the Pamir group and serving as a mediator to bring peace between the warring factions of the region, China can work collectively with Afghanistan and Pakistan to stop violence among the local people, helping an Afghan government that makes all fighting peoples and factions sit at the table for political settlement and national reconciliation.
If there were no wars in the region, tens of thousands of trucks and buses would transport cargo and people every day among these three countries.In an article titled “New Silk Road could revitalise war-torn Afghanistan”, published in Global Times, scholar Li Xiguang said that Afghan war is more likely a regional war in which China has a stake.After the death of Osama bin Laden, China needs to redefine the issue of Afghanistan.China should lose no time to initiate regional cooperation among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan to realise the tremendous potential of the legendary medieval Silk Road.Any prospect of reviving regional trade has been disrupted since the 1970s due to Soviet and NATO invasions of Afghanistan. – Nation
