Pak-China-Afghan-Tajik alliance? Good progress!
Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and Tajikistan finally unveiled their Quadrilateral Counterterrorism Alliance on Wednesday.
The new four-nation counterterrorism alliance is officially known as Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination mechanism (QCCM). Top commanders from the participating nations gathered in Urumqi, China for the inaugural meeting. An
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement read,
The inaugural high-level meeting on Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism in counterterrorism by Afghanistan-China-Pakistan-Tajikistan armed forces/militaries was held in Urumqi, Xingjian, China on 3rd August, 2016.
The meeting on the inaugural ceremony of the four-nation counterterrorism alliance was attended by Qadam Shah Shahim, CGS Afghan National Army; General Fang Fenghui, Chief of Joint Staff Department of Central Military Commission; General Raheel Sharif, CoAS Pakistan Army; and Major General E. A. Cobidrzoda, First Deputy Defence Minister and CGS Tajikistan armed forces.
The QCCM was primarily Chinese brainchild however, General Sharif contributed actively to the cause. Given Pakistan’s operations against terrorist (
Operation Zarb-e-Azb,
Operation Karachi, etc.) General Sharif made serious efforts to bring this counterterrorism alliance to realization. He visited Afghanistan and Tajikistan in March for the same purpose. General Fenghui joined him in Kabul during the visit in March to promote the alliance. An official statement read,
The participants unanimously agreed that terrorism and extremism are a serious threat to regional stability… [The participants] reiterated to cooperate for tackling these forces for peace and stability of all member countries.
Under the QCCM arrangement, the four nations will cooperate in counterterrorism situation evaluation, intelligence sharing, capacity building, clue verification, joint training exercises and personnel training.
The four-nation counterterrorism alliance would work through consensus and it was clarified that it was not targeted against any one state or international organization.