FM Qureshi, Afghan FM hold joint press conference, discuss trade transit

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Afghani prisoners languishing in prisons in Afghanistan will be released said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a joint press conference alongwith his visiting Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul here Aaj TV reported on Thursday.

Talking to the media, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that a new era has begun between Pakistan and Afghanistan and that this is a move in the right direction.

And added that Pakistan understands the situation being faced by Afghanistan the most compared to all other allies stationed in the war-torn country.

He said further that the US, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will have an understanding at the foreign ministerial level.

Qureshi said that the US phase on the pullout from Afghanistan, transit trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan and tri-lateral development in the corporate sector between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States will be discussed in a joint meeting in Washington next month.

The foreign minister said that the foreign minister of Afghanistan has assured him that the deputy of the Peace Council will be included in the Afghan delegation to attend the joint meeting in Washington.

In response the Afghan Foreign Minister said that all armed people in Afghanistan are not Taliban and efforts are being made to make them believe in the Constitution of the country

The foreign minister said that a mechanism is in place to provide Afghanistan political and military assistance, and added that positive results are expected in Washington next month.

To a question, the Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said that anyone who supports the constitution of Afghanistan supports the allied forces stationed there.

To another question, Pakistani Foreign Minister said that friends like Turkey have helped in the initial stages to bring Pakistan and Afghanistan closer, but both countries have a created an understanding between each other which now requires international help.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi reinforced that the corporate sector between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US will come together at the joint meeting in Washington in the first week of February.