No favourites in Afghanistan, says Pakistan's Foreign Office

The Foreign Office (FO) has said that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan, adding that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's statement regarding the Afghan government's responsibility was "misquoted" and "twisted" by some sections of the media.

FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, in response to media queries on the foreign minister’s comments regarding Daesh and Afghan Taliban, said that the FM clearly spoke about consensus among the international community, the regional players and the Afghans themselves against the menace of terrorism, Radio Pakistan reported.

He added that Qureshi's remarks about the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process was misquoted by some sections of the media.

“His remarks cannot be in anyway be misconstrued as advocacy for a particular side in the Afghan conflict," Chaudhri said. He further said that Pakistan has reiterated that it has no favourites in Afghanistan and sees all sides in the conflict as Afghans who need to decide about their future themselves.

Some elements in Afghanistan also involved in destabilising Pakistan: Qureshi

"We will continue to play a constructive facilitation role in the Afghan peace process," the spokesman said. All energies should be focused on finding an inclusive, broad based and comprehensive political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, Chaudhri added.

Earlier, Qureshi had said that the Afghan forces had the capacity to combat Daesh in Afghanistan. The minister said that it was the responsibility of the Afghan government to monitor the militants and keep them from growing in the country.

"Nobody wants Daesh to grow. They [the Afghan government] don't want it, the Taliban don't want it, Iran doesn't want it, [Afghanistan's] neighbours don't want it and the international community doesn't want it," The News had quoted the foreign minister as saying.