FM Qureshi reaffirms Pakistan's role for Afghan peace

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday reiterated assurance that Pakistan will continue playing its reconciliatory role for peace in Afghanistan.

Talking to US Chargé D’ Affaires in Pakistan Paul W. Jones in Islamabad, he said the progress and development of the entire region directly hinges upon the peace in the neighbouring country.

FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan welcomes the US decision to resume talks with Afghan Taliban.

The situation in Afghanistan, overall security situation in the region, and bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States came under discussion at the meeting.

In a tweet earlier, FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said: “Pakistan welcomes President Trump’s continued willingness to pursue political settlement in Afghanistan by resuming dialogue with Taliban. It is a positive development, which will help in establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as in region.”

Earlier on November 29, President Donald Trump had made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan and said he had believed Taliban would agree to a ceasefire in America’s longest war.

Trump’s visit was his first to Afghanistan since becoming president and came a week after a prisoner swap between Washington and Kabul that has raised hopes for a long elusive peace deal.

“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we are meeting with them,” Donald Trump had told reporters after arriving in Afghanistan after an overnight flight from the United States, kept secret for security reasons.