Pakistan and Afghanistan plan to upgrade their diplomatic ties, China said on Wednesday after hosting an informal meeting between Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Muttaqi and Dar agreed in principle to send ambassadors to each other’s country as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after the meeting.

According to a statement issued by China’s foreign ministry, Wang said the two countries “clearly expressed” willingness to upgrade the level of their diplomatic relations.

“China welcomes this and is willing to continue providing assistance for the improvement of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations,” he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pakistan’s foreign office said it “welcomed positive momentum in bilateral ties, including enhanced diplomatic engagement, trade, and transit facilitation.”

Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister “emphasized the importance of political and economic relations with both countries and expressed hope for further progress in these areas in the future.”

Tensions appeared to ease after a rare meeting between Muttaqi and Dar in Kabul last month where the Islamic Emirate’s acting foreign minister expressed concern over the deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans from Pakistan, Reuters reported.

Wednesday’s meeting in Beijing signalled a further thaw, with all agreeing to a trilateral foreign ministers’ dialogue in Kabul as soon as possible.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have embassies in each other’s capitals but they are led by charge d’affaires, not ambassadors.

China was the first country to accept an ambassador from the Islamic Emirate-run administration in Kabul though it does not formally recognise the government.

Wang and Muttaqi also met separately on Wednesday to discuss their bilateral relations.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the process of relocating eligible Afghans to the United States is being reviewed as previous vetting processes raised concerns.

During a US Senate hearing, Rubio said a review into the process is underway and that “frankly there have been some errors found in the previous vetting process that we’re concerned about.”

“To some extent, their transfer has been paused or slowed down because those previous vetting procedures need to be completed.”

He stated the process is still under review to ensure that only eligible individuals are admitted into the US.

Earlier, US officials said that with the start of Donald Trump’s administration, the travel plans of hundreds of Afghans had been canceled.

Recently, the Trump administration said over 10,000 Afghan refugees who have not yet been granted asylum and are under temporary protection need to leave the US.

Addressing the Senate, Rubio said: “There was some concerns early on about freezing or slowing down this program until we could determine whether we were properly vetting people to come towards the United States and that process is ongoing and I think we’ll have more concrete answers for you.

“We’re working to make progress on that,” he said.

Afghanistan has been named one of the nine worst-affected countries grappling with severe food insecurity, with over one million people facing emergency levels of hunger, according to the Global Report on Food Crises 2025 (GRFC) issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The report, compiled by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) and partner organizations, paints a grim picture of worsening conditions across the country.

The report estimates that 3.6 million Afghans will face Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 4 conditions this year — just one step below famine.

This places Afghanistan alongside countries like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Pakistan, where war, economic instability, and climate-related disasters are driving millions into hunger.

Sudan currently leads the list, with a staggering 8.5 million people in IPC Phase 4 and an additional 800,000 experiencing famine-level hunger (IPC Phase 5).

In Afghanistan, the World Food Program (WFP) described the report’s findings as “not the records we want to break.”

While there have been minor improvements in food access over the past year, the sharp drop in humanitarian funding remains a critical concern.

The report warns that financial shortfalls, coupled with ongoing insecurity, are placing vital nutrition and health services—particularly for children—at serious risk.

Humanitarian funding globally is projected to fall by up to 45% in 2025, a trend that could have devastating consequences for low-income and crisis-affected countries like Afghanistan.

The WFP has urged the international community to act swiftly, warning that without sustained donor support, the situation could deteriorate even further.

The report attributes Afghanistan’s deepening food crisis to a combination of economic collapse, widespread poverty, and the fragile governance landscape following the Islamic Emirate’s return to power.

The withdrawal of development aid and ongoing banking restrictions have only intensified the crisis.

Despite efforts by humanitarian agencies to scale back and prioritize the most vulnerable populations, current resources are far from adequate to meet the growing needs.

The report calls on international stakeholders to keep food security at the forefront of their global agenda and to take decisive action to prevent a worsening catastrophe—not just in Afghanistan, but in all high-risk countries.