ISLAMABAD, Sept 10: The presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan has complicated the relationship between various nationalities in the war-torn country, and their fair, proportional and unbiased share in power can normalise the situation.

These observations were made by a Chinese scholar Zhang Deguang, who is chairman of China Foundation of International Studies, here on Monday at Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).

Mr Deguang feared that any discrimination in representation of different ethnicities in future government would result in the prolongation of the conflict in Afghanistan.

China opposes the retention of foreign bases in Afghanistan after the US and NATO forces withdrawal, said Mr Deguang, who is also first secretary general of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

He said immediate neighbours and regional countries should all help Afghanistan without interference in its affairs.

He stated that China had no desire to bring Afghanistan in its sphere of influence and would content itself with development work in the country. The Chinese scholar affirmed that the strategic partnership with Pakistan would become stronger with the passage of time and economic cooperation between the two countries can be expanded to more areas like development of energy resources, technology and agriculture.

Acting president IPRI told the Chinese delegation that the institute would soon open a China Centre to facilitate joint research and exchange of scholars. The two teams agreed to sign an MoU for collaboration in research between IPRI and the thinks tanks of China.

Other members of the Chinese delegation included Zheng Shulan and Zhou Gang of the China Foundation of International Studies, Li Yongquan, Li Jianmin, Zheng Yu, Zhu Honggen of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Li Sen of the ministry of foreign affairs.