Islamabad, Dec 9, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met and conferred here Wednesday on important international and regional questions.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia-The Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference started in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Zarif and Yi also discussed about bilateral cooperation.

The two stressed the need to find proper solutions to regional problems that will be solved through further regional cooperation.

Zarif arrived in the Pakistani capital on Tuesday afternoon.

Already, he has held talks with his Pakistani, Tajik and Afghan counterparts.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates are part of the initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty.

Six key areas in which the 14 countries have been pursuing confidence-building measures since the 2013 Almaty meeting are disaster management, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, trade and investment, regional infrastructure, and education.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was established in 2011 at the initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey.

The main objective of the Process is to foster efforts for regional cooperation and connectivity with a view to promoting long-term peace and stability as well as progress and development in Afghanistan, and the region.

The Fifth Ministerial Conference is expected to adopt a forward looking Islamabad Declaration entitled 'Enhanced Cooperation for Countering Security Threats and Promoting Connectivity in the Heart of Asia Region'.

By IRNA