ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday had a telephonic conversation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammed Haneef Atmar.
The foreign minister said a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest. He said Pakistan is a partner in peace efforts in the region including Afghanistan. Qureshi said Pakistan is committed to continue its conciliatory assistance to make Afghanistan peaceful and stable.
The foreign minister expressed hope that the ‘Istanbul Process’ will help make the Doha Agreement fruitful in the pursuit of lasting peace in Afghanistan.
Appreciating Pakistan’s continued diplomatic, political and moral support in making the Afghan peace process fruitful, the Afghan foreign minister thanked Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistani leadership.
Both the Foreign Ministers agreed to meet in Istanbul. Qureshi also invited Afghan Foreign Minister to Islamabad after Istanbul Process meeting.
Spoke to FM @MHaneefAtmar on bilat relations & evolving Afghan Peace Process.We support reconciliation in ???????? and progress in peace process, in Istanbul. I look forward to meeting FM Atmar at Istanbul Conf & to hosting him in Pakistan soon after to discuss a way forward post conf.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 18, 2021
Turkey will host a peace summit for Afghanistan from April 24 to May 4 to revive efforts to end the war and sketch out a possible political settlement
Turkey’s foreign ministry said the Afghan government and the Taliban would attend the 10 day summit. However, the Taliban later said it will not attend any summits until all foreign forces leave the country.
The meeting would include the United Nations and Qatar as part of a United States-backed push to advance stalled talks on the future of Afghanistan. The United States has announced to withdraw all troops from the country September 11, 2021.
