China urges Afghans, Pakistan to form crisis-management mechanism

China has urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve relations and establish a crisis prevention and management mechanism, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Saturday and said a three-way conference mechanism involving the two countries and China could promote dialogue and cooperation, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

"China sincerely wishes for Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve relations, rebuild mutual trust strengthen cooperation, achieve mutual safety and mutually development," Wang said, according to the statement.

"As Afghanistan and Pakistan's mutual friend, China encourages them to establish a crisis prevention and management mechanism as soon as possible, to properly deal with any kind of sudden occurrence."

Wang was visiting Pakistan on the weekend.

Neither Afghan nor Pakistani officials were available for comment.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have been uneasy neighbours ever since Pakistan's independence in 1947.

Their ties have been poisoned in recent years by Afghan accusations that Pakistan is supporting Taliban insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed Kabul in order to limit the influence of its old rival, India, in Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies that and says it wants to see a peaceful, stable Afghanistan.