WASHINGTON -- A group of young Afghan diplomats began a two-week training session in Washington Monday as part of a joint program co-organized by the United States and China.

This is the third year the United States and China have partnered to train early-career Kabul diplomats, who visit the two countries in order to develop their diplomatic, communications and management skills.

The group, which participated in a two-week training program in Beijing in May, will learn more about U.S. policy regarding Afghanistan, US-China relations, and the way foreign policy is made in the United States while in Washington.

"I'm happy that the US and China have come to see support for Afghanistan's sovereignty and economic development as an area of common interest and action," U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman said at the opening ceremony of the training program in the United States.

The joint program is a "good example of how the new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States can contribute to the region," said Wu Xi, minister of Chinese Embassy in the United States, referring to the consensus reached by the leaders of China and the United States on bilateral relations.

Describing the training as being "useful and productive," Ahmad Nawid Ariayl, a participant of past programs, said he had benefited from past sessions especially on communications and negotiation skills.

During their two-week stay, the Afghan diplomats are also scheduled to visit the Chinese and Afghan embassies, tour Washington, D.C., meet with diplomats and scholars from various think tanks, practice diplomatic simulations at the University of Maryland, and visit the United Nations and the Afghan consulate in New York City.

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