Qureshi urges need to bridge Islamabad-Kabul trust deficit
islamabad — Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday underscored the need to remove trust deficit between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Addressing a Press conference along with his Afghan and Chinese counterparts, Salahuddin Rabbani and Wang Yi in Kabul, Qureshi said Pakistan was committed to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan in accordance with the wishes of Afghan people.
The minister said Pakistan would continue to support the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned dialogue process. Pakistan would benefit the most from the peace and stability in Afghanistan, he added.
The minister stressed upon promotion of ties among the three countries and underlined the need for a joint strategy to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the region.
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani stressed on collective efforts to tackle terrorism in the region and linked peace and stability in Afghanistan with the development and prosperity of the region.
The objective of the meeting was to further strengthen the ties and promote cooperation in different spheres, he said and extended his country’s support to China’s belt and road project. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his address said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were two brotherly countries and extended China’s complete support to the Afghan peace and reconciliation process. He stressed upon bringing the Taleban on the negotiation table to boost the peace process in Afghanistan.
Earlier, China pledged to help Afghanistan and Pakistan overcome longstanding suspicions, as officials from the three nations met on Saturday in the latest round of diplomacy aimed at opening talks with the Taleban to end the Afghan war.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, met the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan in Kabul to put into effect a memorandum of understanding on security cooperation and support for Afghanistan’s efforts to open talks with the Taleban.
“China approves of this, and is willing to provide support and help for Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve their ties,” Wang told reporters after the meeting.
“We support Afghanistan and Pakistan efforts for peace and we call on the Taleban to join the peace process,” said Wang, adding that both countries have agreed to resolve disputes through “friendly consultations”.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad was committed to stability and peace in Afghanistan.
“By blaming, no one moves ahead, we have to stop pointing fingers at each other that why I am here to build mutual political trusts and facilitate the peace process of Afghanistan,” he said.
The officials also signed agreements to enable the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan through road and rail links. — APP, Reuters