Kabul meeting: Dialogue can bring peace, says Mamnoon

Appeals for greater cooperation with Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

KABUL:

President Mamnoon Hussain on Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for a stable Afghanistan and expressed solidarity with the Afghan people in their quest for peace and stability.

Pakistan will continue to support and facilitate efforts for an inclusive Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, the president said in his speech at the Quadrilateral Summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

“We have consistently emphasised the centrality of a political solution and underscored the need for all Afghans to join the talks,” President Hussain said. “We are convinced that the road to sustainable peace in Afghanistan lies only through peaceful dialogue.”

He said that countries in the region could help the process, based on the principles of non-interference and mutual respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

The summit was attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani and Tajikistan leader Emomalii Rahman. President Mamnoon Hussain said that they were meeting in Kabul at a pivotal moment in the history of Afghanistan. “The security, political and economic transitions under way in Afghanistan are of immense importance. We wish Afghanistan every success, including in the forthcoming elections and democratic transition,” he added.

The president said the defining element of Pakistan’s vision of a “peaceful neighbourhood” was mutual understanding and trust.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.