KARACHI: China, Pakistan and Iran held their first trilateral meeting on counter-terrorism in Beijing on Wednesday, Dawn.com reported quoting a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

According to the statement, delegations from the three countries held “detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region”.

Based on the outcome of these consultations, they decided to institutionalise the trilateral consultations on counter-terrorism and security for which further details would be worked out, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency quoted a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry as saying that the three countries had “in-depth” exchanges on the regional counter-terrorism situation, and decided to hold the meeting on a regular basis.

According to the FO, Abdul Hameed, director general of counter-terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led Pakistan’s delegation while the Chinese delegation was headed by Bai Tian, director general of the Department of External Security Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry. The Iranian delegation was led by assistant to the Iranian foreign minister Seyed Rasoul Mosavi.

The FO said Hameed and Mosavi also called on Assistant Foreign Minister of China Nong Rong.

Last month, Pakistan had also held trilateral talks with China and Afghanistan in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2023