Peace in Afghanistan Pakistan’s ‘highest priority’: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a telephonic conversation with Acting Afghanistan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar, said that peace in Kabul was Pakistan’s “highest priority”.

The peace talks between Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government reached a new turn after the American-brokered deal, however, there have been several hindrances in attaining peace in the country.

According to a statement from the Foreign Office on Wednesday, Qureshi said that Pakistan had “high stakes” in return of stability to Afghanistan and the region.

“It [is] important that the Afghan leaders seize this historic opportunity and achieve an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said.

The foreign minister said he welcomes the recent developments on the release of prisoners and urged all parties to take requisite steps for the commencement of Intra-Afghan negotiations at the earliest.

The foreign minister assured his Afghan counterpart of Pakistan’s consistent support to Afghanistan on its path to peace and development.

The foreign minister underlined that the Intra-Afghan negotiations would also provide an opportunity to address the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour.

It is critical that the return of Afghan refugees be part of peace and reconciliation process, he said.

“The subjects covered during the call include bilateral relations and progress on the Afghan peace process,” the statement read.

Moreover, Qureshi expressed satisfaction at the successful holding of the Second Review meeting of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) in Kabul recently.

Positive momentum after the APAPPS should be followed up by implementing all its decisions, he stressed.

“Both sides agreed that APAPPS provides a comprehensive and pertinent forum to address all issues on key tracks of the bilateral relations,” the FO statement said.

Highlighting Pakistan’s contribution towards economic development in Afghanistan, Qureshi hoped that necessary steps will be taken to operationalise the Ghulam Khan border terminal for Afghan transit trade, which would further facilitate Afghanistan’s trade with the rest of the world.

The foreign minister remarked that return of peace and stability in Afghanistan would “strengthen trade and energy corridor between Pakistan and Central Asia and beyond”.

Meanwhile, Shah Mehmood Qureshi strongly condemned the re-publication of blasphemous caricatures by a French magazine.

In a statement, the foreign minister said that these caricatures have hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims across the world, adding that such acts should not be repeated; rather, those behind them must be held accountable.

Qureshi’s comments came after French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo said on Tuesday that it was republishing the highly controversial cartoons.

“We have conveyed our concerns to the French government,” Qureshi said, adding that Pakistan is a democratic country which believes in freedom of expression.

“However, freedom of expression does not give license to anybody to hurt the sentiments of others,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office had condemned the French magazine’s decision to reprint the blasphemous caricatures, calling it a “deliberate attempt to offend the sentiments of billions of Muslims”.

“Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms the decision by the French magazine [...] to re-publish deeply offensive caricatures,” the Foreign Office had tweeted.

“Such a deliberate act to offend the sentiments of billions of Muslims cannot be justified as an exercise in press freedom or freedom of expression. Such actions undermine the global aspirations for peaceful co-existence as well as social and inter-faith harmony”.