Abdullah Abdullah stresses on ‘drawing lessons from realities of past four decades’

Chairman of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah stressed on Tuesday that with the emerging political and geo-economic challenges it has become more urgent than ever to “draw necessary lessons from the realities of the past four decades”.

Speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad alongside Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Abdullah said that using patience, compromise, dialogue and sacrifices made over the past 19 years, Afghanistan wishes for sustainable peace.

“Pakistan has played an important role in the Afghan peace process and I thank you for that as I look forward to a joint peaceful future for our region. I am a firm believer of going beyond rhetoric and conspiracies. We need fresh approaches toward peace,” he said.

Abdullah is currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan amidst the backdrop of on-going talks between the Afghan government and Taliban.

This is the first high-level visit from Afghanistan in several months, highlighting increased interaction between the two neighbours with prospects of a possible political end to the two-decade-long war in sight.

“We realise that in an interconnected world of technological advances, we are lagging behind in face of several challenges but there is huge untapped security, economic and political potential for cooperation among regional countries that should be utilized,” he added.

Speaking at the conference, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi assured Pakistan's complete support to the Afghan peace process.

“Pakistan respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan has no favourites and it does not want to meddle in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

The foreign minister emphasised the need for greater collaboration between the two countries in different fields to build a common future.

Dr Abdullah, who is leading a high-powered delegation, comprising members of the high peace council, also met with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser a day earlier.

A wide range of issues, including enhancing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were discussed in the meeting.

Talking to the visiting dignitary, the speaker said that the people of Pakistan regardless of ethnicities are bound together by everlasting cultural, religious and historic affinities.

He said that a peaceful Afghanistan is in the larger interest of Pakistan.

Qaiser commended the leadership role of Dr Abdullah for steering the peace negotiations.