ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said a much-talked about meeting of the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on the sidelines of a regional conference on Afghanistan, had not been scheduled so far.
The Heart of Asia conference, also called the Istanbul Process, is an initiative of the Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkey, officially launched at a conference hosted in Istanbul on November 2, 2011.
The presence of Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar at the multilateral event have led to speculation in recent days that they might meet on the sidelines, especially in the backdrop of a recent thaw is relations between the two nuclear-armed arch-rivals.
The last meeting between Qureshi and an Indian external affairs minister took place in May 2019 in Bishkek on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting.
Qureshi, who left for Dushanbe today, Monday, told Pakistan's Dawn newspaper on Sunday that “no meeting [with the Indian foreign minister] has been finalised or requested.”
On Monday the FM said he would be meeting the foreign ministers of several countries at the Heart of Asia conference, including Iran, Turkey and Tajikistan, but did not specify if he would meet the Indian FM.
“Here [at the conference] Afghanistan, peace and stability in Afghanistan and its future will be discussed,” the foreign minister said in a video message before departing for Dushanbe. “The role that Pakistan has played for the peace and stability of Afghanistan; I will bring the attention of the foreign ministers of participating countries to that.”
On Sunday, the foreign office said during this year’s Heart of Asia conference Qureshi “would deliver a statement highlighting Pakistan’s positive contributions to the Afghan peace process and its support for Afghanistan’s development and connectivity within the regional framework. On the sidelines of the Conference, the Foreign Minister will hold consultations with key regional and international partners.”
In 2015, Pakistan co-chaired the Heart of Asia conference, along with Afghanistan, and hosted its fifth Ministerial Conference in Islamabad.
No meeting planned with Indian counterpart in Dushanbe, Pakistani foreign minister says
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No meeting planned with Indian counterpart in Dushanbe, Pakistani foreign minister says
- Presence of Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers at Heart of Asia conference led to speculations they might meet on sidelines
- FM Qureshi to meet foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan and other countries for bilateral meetings on the sidelines
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
