TEHRAN - The first trilateral summit between Afghanistan, India, and China was held in Kabul on Saturday, according to reports.

In a statement, Afghanistan’s ministry of foreign affairs said the summit was chaired by deputy foreign minister Idrees Zaman and was attended by Indian envoy Vinay Kumar and Chinese envoy Liu Jinsong.

Calling China and India as, “old friends and good neighbours” of Afghanistan, Zaman said his country counts on both.

Zaman further said that the three countries should focus more on training civil and military personnel, mining, increased energy production, agriculture and transportation development, regional connectivity, establishing a joint chamber of commerce between the three countries, and areas of mutual economic interest, according to a statement.

The envoys of India and China hailed Afghan leadership for hosting the first trilateral summit and added that their countries are prepared to cooperate in the mentioned sectors.

India and China, the two South Asian giants, have increased their engagement in the war-ravaged country in recent years, at a time when the United States and other Western countries have been gradually withdrawing.

Both countries have invested massively in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and rebuilding projects and are seen as important allies of Kabul.

After the informal Wuhan Summit last year in April between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both New Delhi and Beijing jointly agreed to train Afghan diplomats.