ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo at the State Department, on Tuesday, for wide-ranging talks on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
Pakistan’s top diplomat held a series of meetings in Washington to rebuild engagements and to stay engaged for the stability of the region.
“He (Qureshi) stressed that, going forward, a broad-based and structured framework for dialogue would best serve the two countries’ shared interests,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday while sharing the details of the meeting.
The Foreign Minister in a meeting said that Pakistan and the US shared a common desire for peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region at large.
“He reiterated Pakistan’s support for a political settlement in Afghanistan, noting that the use of force had failed to deliver results,” the statement said.
It added: “Both sides agreed that the time was ripe for the Afghan Taliban to avail the opportunity for a political settlement by seizing the opportunity for dialogue.”
The foreign minister was assisted by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Ali Jehangir Siddiqui.
Qureshi, who is paying an official visit to Washington at Secretary Pompeo’s invitation, said that close engagement between Pakistan and the US had always been mutually beneficial and a factor for stability in South Asia.
While welcoming the Foreign Minister to the State Department, Secretary Pompeo said the US looked forward to working with the new Government of Pakistan in implementing its reform agenda, the Foreign Minister confirmed.
Secretary Pompeo appreciated Pakistan’s support for political reconciliation in Afghanistan and its efforts for peace in the neighborhood, the Foreign Ministry said.
Qureshi also met the US National Security Adviser John Bolton at the White House on Tuesday.
The two officials discussed Pakistan-US bilateral relations and the regional situation in South Asia, including the efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the Afghan situation, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said.
Sharing Pakistan’s perspective, Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s long-held position that there was no military solution to the situation in Afghanistan.
In a meeting with Bolton, Qureshi underlined that the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) provided the most effective mechanism to promote mutually beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In the context of achieving stability in South Asia, Qureshi briefed his US interlocutor about India’s aggressive posturing in the region.
“After initially agreeing to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s peace initiative, the Government in India caved in to internal politics,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that added: “FM Qureshi underscored that, on its part, Pakistan remained committed to engaging India in a comprehensive peace dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
“The two leaders agreed that continued Pakistan-US cooperation will be in the interest of regional peace and security in South Asia,” the Foreign Office statement said.
Qureshi stresses structured framework for Pak-US dialogue
Qureshi stresses structured framework for Pak-US dialogue
- Pakistan and US agree for Afghan Taliban to use the opportunity for a political settlement
- The US looks forward to working with the new Government of Pakistan, says Secretary Pompeo
Pakistan says it seized 32 square kilometers inside Afghanistan as border clashes escalate
- Security official describes ‘limited tactical action’ in Gudwana after Afghan assaults
- Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering militants as UN, China and Russia urge restraint
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area inside Afghanistan following overnight fighting, a security official said on Saturday, as cross-border clashes between the two countries escalated sharply.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said troops carried out a “limited tactical action” in the Gudwana area opposite the Zhob sector along the frontier, capturing Afghan territory after responding to attacks on Pakistani positions.
“On the night of Feb. 26/27, posts opposite the Zhob sector launched anticipated physical attacks on multiple Pakistani positions,” the official said, referring to fighters linked to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, whom Islamabad identifies as Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA).
“In response to aggressive unprovoked fire and physical attacks, Pakistan security forces launched a limited tactical action on the night of Feb. 27/28 in the general area of Gudwana with a view to capture TTA Tahir Post,” he continued, adding that 32 square kilometers of Afghan territory were seized.
The official said special combat teams crossed the border after preparatory bombardment, supported by intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets providing “real-time battlefield awareness.”
He said 24 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and 37 wounded, with no Pakistani casualties reported.
The claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate confirmation from Taliban authorities in Kabul of any territorial loss in the Gudwana area.
The latest clashes erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan over the weekend, triggering retaliatory fire along the frontier and sharply escalating long-running tensions. Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering Pakistani Taliban militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation that Afghanistan denies.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday evening that 352 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 535 wounded since the latest phase of hostilities began.
Tarar said Pakistani strikes had destroyed 130 check posts, 171 tanks and armored vehicles and targeted 41 locations across Afghanistan by air. Those figures could not be independently verified.
The United Nations, as well as China and Russia, have called for restraint.
The United States said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
