BEIJING, June 6: A bloc bringing together China, Russia and Central Asian states wants to play a bigger role in Afghanistan, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in an interview published on Wednesday, as group leaders gathered for an annual summit.  

But a senior Russian official ruled out any military involvement by Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members, despite fears instability would spread across the region as most foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The future of Afghanistan, struggling to end an insurgency by the Taliban despite the presence of US-led international forces for more than a decade, is likely to be one of the main issues at the two-day Beijing meeting.

“We will continue to manage regional affairs by ourselves, guarding against shocks from turbulence outside the region, and will play a bigger role in Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction,” Mr Hu was quoted as saying in an interview with China’s official People’s Daily newspaper.

“We’ll strengthen communication, coordination and cooperation in dealing with major international and regional issues,” said Mr Hu.

The SCO, founded in 2001, includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Pakistan and others attend the summits, but not as full members.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attending as a guest, and his country is due to be granted `observer’ status, meaning it can attend SCO meetings but not vote.

On Sunday, Afghan officials told Reuters that China and Afghanistan would soon announce a plan to deepen ties, signalling China’s desire to play a role beyond an economic partnership as western forces prepare to leave.

Mr Karzai said in Beijing the two governments were preparing to sign a preliminary agreement by Friday on the “creation of a strategic partnership”.

“Afghanistan will be expanding and strengthening relations with China,” Mr Karzai said in a speech to university students.

Mr Karzai also said China could “play a very significant role in bringing Afghanistan and Pakistan together towards a cooperative environment in the war on terror and radicalism”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China would increase cooperation with Afghanistan over resource development, infrastructure, energy and training. “Events in Afghanistan are of great concern to the security and stability of central Asia,” Mr Liu said at a briefing.

Kirill Barsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the Shanghai group, said the organisation was not planning to become a military union which gets involved in Afghanistan.—Reuters