FM Qureshi embarks on China trip to attend meeting on Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday embarked on a three-day official visit to Beijing to attend the third meeting of foreign ministers of neighbouring countries of Afghanistan.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the foreign minister will interact with his counterparts from different countries during his visit.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi will hold meetings with State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, his Russian and Iranian counterparts, Radio Pakistan reported.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan had initiated the neighbouring countries' format in September last year with a view to evolving a regional approach to the situation in Afghanistan.

Pakistan hosted the first meeting of the foreign ministers of neighbouring countries on September 8, 2021.

'See Afghanistan as shared responsibility'

A day earlier , FM  Qureshi  had  said Afghanistan must not be seen through a regional prism, but as a “shared and collective responsibility”.

“Instability in Afghanistan will have negative consequences for the entire world,” he had said in his address at a seminar on ‘Perspectives on the evolving situation in Afghanistan’ organized by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa (CAMEA) of the Institute of Strategic Studies. 

The day-long seminar held in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) focused on the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the humanitarian crisis.

FM Qureshi had said the emergence of new conflicts did not mean that the world can afford to forget old ones, adding that the wounds of the 40-year war and bloodshed in Afghanistan would take a long time to heal. “Failure is not an option.