Islamabad, November 19, 2020 (PPI-OT): On the sidelines of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Kabul, today, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi met his Afghan counterpart Mr. Haneef Atmar. The two Foreign Ministers reviewed complete gamut of bilateral relations, developments in the Afghan peace process, regional connectivity, and people-to-people contacts. The Foreign Minister assured his Afghan counterpart of Pakistan’s steadfast support to a peaceful, stable, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan.
The Foreign Minister reiterated Pakistan’s consistently-held position that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and that Afghans must seize this historic opportunity presented by U.S.-Taliban Peace Agreement and subsequent start of Intra-Afghan Negotiations for bringing an end to the conflict through inclusive and broad-based political settlement. He underlined that Pakistan will respect the decisions taken by Afghans in the peace process.
The two Foreign Ministers noted that recent high-level visits from both sides have led to positive trajectory in bilateral relations and agreed to take necessary steps to further build on this momentum. Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed satisfaction at the important decisions taken by the two sides during 7th APTTCA meeting held on 17 November in Kabul including commencing of negotiations on PTA, progress on revision of APTTA, agreement of cooperation between Customs, and understanding about having an MoU on cooperation between the Central Banks.
Foreign Minister Atmar thanked Foreign Minister Qureshi for Pakistan’s support in the Afghan peace process and for the support extended to Afghan nationals during Covid-19 as well as facilitation of trade, transit and pedestrian movement. The two sides also agreed that sustained peace and stability, enhanced trade, and connectivity would contribute to regional prosperity.
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