ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed hope that progress on the implementation of the US-Taliban peace agreement will be maintained to achieve its stated objectives of a peaceful political settlement in Afghanistan.
Qureshi, according to a Foreign Office statement, was speaking to Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar Dr Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, who called on him, here on Monday.
“Matters of mutual interest were discussed, with a special focus on the Afghan peace process,” it added.
Foreign Minister Qureshi appreciated Qatar’s positive and constructive efforts as the host of the US-Taliban talks that culminated in the peace agreement and the subsequent intra-Afghan negotiations.
He highlighted that both Pakistan and Qatar had facilitated the Afghan peace process and reiterated that Pakistan strongly believed in a negotiated settlement as there was no military solution of the conflict in Afghanistan.
Emphasising that peace and stability in Afghanistan were in Pakistan’s interest, the foreign minister underscored the need to remain vigilant of the role of “spoilers” seeking to undermine the peace process.
Qureshi hoped that the collective efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan would bear fruit.
The foreign minister reiterated Pakistan’s support for intra-Afghan negotiations which provide a historic opportunity for establishment of durable peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.
Amid a virtual stalemate of the peace process, the Afghan Taliban recently urged the US to honour the peace accord under which all foreign troops would exit Afghanistan in the coming months.
“We urge the American side to remain committed to the full implementation of this accord,” Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban chief negotiator stated in an open letter addressed to the American public.
“It is the responsibility and in the interest of all to bring an end to this war, and the implementation of the Doha agreement is the most effective way of ending it,” Baradar further wrote.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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