Afghan people have to decide their future themselves: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Maintaining that peace in Afghanistan is imperative for regional connectivity, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that Afghan people themselves have to decide their future.

Addressing Seventh Round of Pakistan-Afghanistan Track-II Dialogue in Islamabad, the foreign minister said that Pakistan has made sincere efforts for peace in Afghanistan and he has held several meetings with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in this regard.

Qureshi reiterated that peace in Afghanistan is imperative for regional connectivity. He further said that Afghan people themselves have to decide their future, local media reported.

Speaking about the relationship between the two neighbors, the foreign minister said that Pakistan played its due role in development of Afghanistan, pledging projects worth one billion dollars. He said Afghanistan is Pakistan's major trading partner which they do through rail and road.

The foreign minister added that Afghanistan's importance in regional connectivity cannot be ignored as completion of projects with Central Asian states such as TAPI and CASA-1000 is not possible without it.