ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a telephonic conversation with Iraqi counterpart Mohamed Ali Alhakim on Friday and expressed Pakistan’s willingness to join efforts with Iraq to calm tensions in the Middle East.
The situation in the region has been volatile since a United States missile strike killed Iranian commander Gen. Qasim Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3.
Pakistan has been expressing its “deep concerns” over the situation.
According to a Foreign Ministry statement released on Friday, Qureshi said Pakistan is worried by the US-Iran tensions as the region cannot afford new confrontations.
Qureshi and Alhakim agreed to continue their roles in a consultation process “to reduce tensions in the region and to work jointly for peace,” the statement said.
Qureshi also renewed Pakistan’s call on all parties concerned to abide by the UN Charter and principles of international law to settle differences through peaceful means.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan can never again be part of any war, but it is ready to play its role for peace.
The premier also asked Qureshi to visit Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States to meet with respective foreign ministers.
PM Khan, since he took office in August 2018, has several times expressed his willingness to assume the role of a mediator in the volatile Middle East region, which has witnessed a series of conflicts in the last few decades.
As tensions are mounting, Pakistan has advised its citizens to exercise “maximum caution while planning visit to Iraq at this point.”
The Foreign Office issued a travel advisory on Wednesday, saying that Pakistani nationals who are already in the Arab state should “remain in close contact with the Embassy of Pakistan in Baghdad” due to the region’s fraught security situation.
