The Pakistani newspaper "Hum" reported on the intensification of the efforts of the Chinese special envoy to reduce tensions between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan.
The newspaper quoted a Taliban official as saying that Yue Xiaoyong had proposed a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of the Taliban, Pakistan and China in Beijing.
Pakistani and Taliban officials told Hum News that following the visits of the Chinese special envoy to Kabul and Islamabad, Beijing is trying to reduce tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban government.
According to the newspaper, the dispute between the Taliban and Pakistan over armed groups opposed to Pakistan, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has caused relations between the two sides to fall to the lowest level.
A Taliban official told the newspaper that the focus of the Chinese special envoy's meetings with senior Taliban and Pakistani officials shows China's concern about the tensions between the Taliban and Islamabad. According to the Taliban official, China's special envoy came up with the idea of holding a meeting of the foreign ministers of this group, Pakistan and China in Beijing.
The official said that China had previously proposed to hold a trilateral meeting in Ashgabat on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, but the meeting was postponed.
Mushahid Hussain, head of the Pakistan-China Institute, told the newspaper that China actively sees the trilateral meeting between Pakistan, the Taliban and China as a bridge to normalise relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
"China has a tripartite strategy towards Afghanistan, which for the first time in 40 years, differs from Pakistan's policy in Afghanistan, which is a flawed and failed policy," Mushahid said.
"Beijing now has more influence in Kabul than Islamabad," the Pakistani expert added.
After accepting the Taliban's representative earlier this year, China is pursuing a three-pronged approach of engagement, reconstruction and peace through a counter-terrorism strategy to curb terrorist groups operating inside Afghanistan, he said.
Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan's former ambassador to Afghanistan, also said that the growing rift between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban is widespread and has now reached a point where it has affected Pakistan's relations with China.
"The border conflict and the lack of interaction between Afghanistan (the Taliban) and Pakistan on cross-border issues undermine the prospects for lasting peace and stability, while hindering China's efforts to expand its economic influence in Afghanistan and the region," the former Pakistani diplomat in Kabul said.
Better relations between the Taliban and Pakistan are of vital importance to China's interests, he said.
Pakistan, which has been accused of supporting the armed opposition in Kabul during the Taliban's 20 wars against the Afghan government and international forces, hoped that attacks by militant groups in the country would decrease as the Taliban came to power.
Islamabad, in particular, had counted on the Afghan Taliban's cooperation in containing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is considered an ally of the group. But over the past three years, not only has the Taliban not prevented TTP attacks in Pakistan, but senior Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of harbouring TTP members and in some cases supporting the group to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
The Taliban in Kabul has always denied the allegations.
