A Chinese envoy warned Tuesday against making Iraq a geopolitical battleground.

"With its strategic location, as well as ethnic and religious diversity, Iraq should become a propeller of regional cooperation, not an arena for geopolitical competition," Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council meeting on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Dai said that China commends Iraq for developing good neighborly and friendly relations with countries in the region and promoting regional integration.

"We support Iraq, in its joint efforts with Kuwait in achieving progress in the search for missing Kuwaiti nationals and property. China has always stood for the full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, Iraq included, and has always stood for common security through cooperation," he said.

"At present, Iraq is at a crucial political phase, facing such major tasks as forming the new government. We sincerely hope that the parties in Iraq will strengthen unity, properly settle their differences, and within the constitutional and legal framework conduct dialogue and consultations to seek consensus on next steps of political arrangements, with a view to laying a solid political foundation for lasting peace, development and prosperity," said the ambassador.

Noting that Iraq has made huge sacrifices in combating Da'esh and recovering the territories originally occupied by terrorists and extremist organizations, Dai said that the international community must continue its support to Iraq in eradicating the remnants of terrorism and consolidating the hard-won counter-terrorism results.

Turning to UNAMI, Dai said the mission and other UN agencies must channel more resources and attention to supporting Iraq's national development priorities.

"UNAMI's human rights-related and humanitarian work must strictly follow the mandate, closely communicate and coordinate with the Iraqi government, and improve screening and verification of information," said the envoy.

(Cover: Members of Iraqi security forces check the damages at an under-construction civilian airport which , according Iraqi religious authorities, was hit by U.S. air strikes, in Kerbala, Iraq, March 13, 2020. /Reuters)