Session of civil, military officials summoned on Afghanistan situation

ISLAMABAD: A high-level session of civil and military officials was summoned on Thursday (tomorrow) to discuss the current situation of Afghanistan, citing sources, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The upcoming session will be chaired by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf will attend the session. The other participants include ministers for interior and defence.

Sources told ARY News that the participants will exchange views on the situation of Afghanistan, whereas, they will take important decisions in tomorrow’s session.

On August 2, the Foreign Office of Pakistan had released a statement that the country has no favourites in Afghanistan and it sees all sides in the conflict as Afghans who need to decide about their future themselves.

READ: CIVIL WAR IN AFGHANISTAN CAN SPELL DANGER FOR PAKISTAN: MOEED YUSUF

Foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri had said certain sections have “misquoted and twisted” the recent remarks by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi over the need for “peace and stability in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process.”

Responding to the queries earlier today, the FO spokesperson had said Pakistan will continue to play a constructive role in the Afghan peace process.

“The Foreign Minister in fact clearly spoke about consensus amongst international community, regional players and Afghans themselves against the menace of terrorism,” the FO statement said.

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“The FM’s remarks cannot be in anyway misconstrued as advocacy for a particular side in the Afghan conflict.”

Chaudhri had said all energies should be focused on finding an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan.

It is pertinent to note that late last week, national security adviser Moeed Yusuf had said while addressing a news conference at the Pakistan embassy that this time there are no secret arrangements with the US like in the past.