India and China have agreed to cooperate in capacity building in Afghanistan and support the government in the war-torn country, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said here today.
"On Afghanistan we had clear sense that what the country requires is more development and that we have to support strengthening the government in Kabul," Jaishankar said while briefing the media on his extensive interactions with top Chinese officials and talks at the upgraded strategic dialogue co-chaired by him here.
"At the end of the discussion there was an understanding on how India and China can cooperate in capacity building in Afghanistan. On Afghanistan, they certainly seem to suggest to us that their approach and policies are in tandem with us, not on different page," he said.
Afghanistan, where China backed Pakistan's role, was part of wide ranging issues discussed during Joint Secretary-level dialogue between India and China here yesterday ahead of the Strategic Dialogue.
Asked whether there was any discussion on Taliban, Jaishankar said the issue came up.
"Their characterisation was that there were elements of Taliban which are very extreme. In their view there were also elements ofTaliban that can work with international community and Afghan government," he said.
"We did not get so much into analysing Taliban but how to strengthen the reconciliation process and the strengthening the hand of Afghan government and how we can help development in Afghanistan," he said.
He said he has explained India's development efforts like Herath dam and electricity projects to China.
There was also discussion on Africa and Iran, he said, adding that there are convergences between India and China on many issues.
Asked wether there was any discussion about US President Donald Trump, Jaishankar saidthere was fairly long discussion on international political situation.
"Obviously the fact is that in the last 25 years China itself grew in a stable and open international system. India too benefited. Clearly, the stability of the international system and its openness we recognise," he said.
But at the same time the nature of Chinese and Indian economies are different, he said.
"We are interested in trade and services and they are concerned about trade goods. They have different relationship with US. We can find common point. They are China and we are India," he said.
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