FM Qureshi reaffirms Pakistan's support for peaceful, stable Afghanistan

Foreign minister says the agreement is a historic opportunity for Afghan leaders to work together

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday reaffirmed Pakistan's support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

The foreign minister, while talking to the speaker of Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga Mir Rahman Rahmani in Islamabad, reiterated that the US-Taliban peace agreement has provided a historic opportunity for Afghan leaders to work together to establish an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement.

He highlighted that progress in the intra-Afghan dialogue would help reduce violence leading to ceasefire.

Qureshi warned the speaker to be mindful of countries who do not wish to see peace in Afghanistan and are against Pakistan and Afghanistan's relations.

He maintained that there are many opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and apprised the speaker about a new visa regime that has been implemented for Afghan nationals to facilitate people-to-people link.

Pakistan, earlier in September, proposed a four-point formula for the Afghan peace process that envisages continued support to Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process while respecting consensus emerging from intra-Afghan talks and ensuring violence never returns to the country nor the Afghan soil is used by terrorist outfits.

The strategy was proposed by Qureshi, who attended the opening ceremony of historic intra-Afghan talks in Doha through video link.