Chinese, Uzbek foreign ministers hold inaugural strategic dialogue

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) — China and Uzbekistan held their first strategic dialogue in Beijing on Tuesday, reaching "broad" consensus on a variety of regional and international issues, including the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At the China-Uzbek Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his visiting Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov "exchanged views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other issues," said a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Wang elaborated on China's principled stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and discussed a recent visit to the country by a joint delegation of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic nations, said the statement.

"The two sides had comprehensive and in-depth communication on implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and strengthening the alignment of development strategies, reached broad consensus, and jointly announced the establishment of a strategic dialogue mechanism between the two foreign ministers," the statement added, referring to recent meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Taking the opportunity of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, Wang added that the two sides should implement the medium- and long-term cooperation plans in economy, trade, and investment sectors.

He also stressed the need to "further" strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism, drug control, combating transnational organized crime, and cyber and bio-security.

"China opposes any force interfering in the internal affairs of Central Asian countries under any pretext," he maintained.

For his part, Saidov appreciated China's position and agreed that "we must adhere to the 'two-state solution' and jointly promote a just solution to the Palestinian issue."

He said his country values ​​the strong mutual trust between the two countries, supports the series of global initiatives proposed by Chinese president, and will continue to abide by the one-China principle.

The two countries firmly support each other and are deepening their strategic mutual trust, he added.

"Uzbekistan-China cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win, which is crucial for Uzbekistan to accelerate its diversified development," he said, adding that his country "fully" agrees with China's suggestions and looks forward to comprehensively deepening all-round cooperation between the two countries and pushing Uzbekistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

The two sides stated that they would further strengthen collaboration within multilateral frameworks such as the UN and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, promote construction of China-Central Asia mechanisms, and safeguard regional peace, development, security, and stability.