SCO meeting: Pakistan reiterates call for Kabul-Taliban talks

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua urges early return of Afghan refugees, combating drug production, human trafficking

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Wednesday reiterated Pakistan’s call for making serious efforts for a negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban for achieving lasting peace in the war-torn country.

Janjua gave the statement while participating in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Contact Group on Afghanistan held in Moscow on Wednesday at the deputy foreign minister level, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov chaired the meeting while deputy foreign ministers of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and India as well as representatives of the SCO and its relevant bodies attended the meeting.



Addressing the meeting, Foreign Secretary Janjua underlined the challenges faced by Afghanistan – including deteriorating security situation marked by increasing ungoverned spaces being used to provide sanctuary to terrorist groups like Da’ish, al Qaeda, TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and JuA (Jamaat-ul Ahrar) and increased drug production that threatened Afghanistan’s neighbours.

She stressed the need for making serious efforts for negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban for achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan.



The foreign secretary also emphasised the importance of early return of Afghan refugees and combating drug production and trafficking that continued to affect stability of Afghanistan and the region.

The members of the SCO Contact Group exchanged views on ways and means to support peace and stability in Afghanistan through facilitating Afghan-led peace process, assisting the Afghan government in dealing with security and counter-terrorism challenges and promoting regional economic integration and connectivity.

They unanimously supported the measures for strengthening interaction between Afghanistan and the SCO countries.

The member countries welcomed the Chinese proposal for hosting the next meeting of the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan in Beijing in early 2018.