DNA
BEIJING: China supports countries in exercising restraint and realising a full and lasting ceasefire, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, when asked about Pakistan and Afghanistan agreeing to a 48-hour ceasefire.
China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role for continued improvement in the two countries’ relations, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told a regular press briefing.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Office (FO) announced that a temporary ceasefire had been agreed with Afghanistan for the next 48 hours amid recent border hostilities between the two countries.
“A temporary ceasefire has been decided between the Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime, with the mutual consent of both parties, for the next 48 hours from 6pm today, at the request of the Taliban.
“During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue,” the FO said.
Taliban regime spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said on X that Afghan forces were instructed to respect the ceasefire, “unless any aggression takes place”.
Pakistani officials on the northern and southern border with Afghanistan told that “no violence was reported overnight, and the ceasefire remains in effect”.
