Tehmina Janjua calls for Afghan govt, Taliban talks for lasting peace

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has reiterated Pakistan’s calls for making serious efforts for negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and Taliban to achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan. 

The Foreign Secretary was speaking at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Contact Group on Afghanistan in Moscow.

The meeting was chaired by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov while deputy foreign ministers of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India and the representatives of SCO and its relevant bodies attended the meeting.

She emphasized the need for early return of Afghan refugees and combating drug production and trafficking which continued to affect stability of Afghanistan and the region.

The foreign secretary underlined the challenges faced by Afghanistan including deteriorating security situation marked by increasing ungoverned spaces being used to provide sanctuary to the terrorist groups.

The member countries unanimously supported measures for strengthening interaction between Afghanistan and the SCO countries.

They welcomed Chinese proposal for hosting the next meeting of the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan in Beijing early next year.