ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday urged the government of Afghanistan to intensify its efforts to hold peace talks with the Afghan Taliban “as soon as possible,” the foreign office said in a statement.
In a telephonic talk with Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Hanif Atmar, Qureshi discussed bilateral relations, the promotion of bilateral cooperation in various fields and the regional situation.
“The Afghan leadership must take full advantage of this opportunity to intensify its efforts to hold intra-Afghan talks as soon as possible,” Qureshi said. “Early intra-Afghan dialogue is necessary to ensure Afghan peace process.”
“Historic opportunity must be seized by the Afghan stakeholders to secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive negotiated political solution,” the foreign minister added. “Lasting solution to the Afghanistan problem is possible only through comprehensive dialogue between all the stake holders.”
Qureshi briefed Atmar on his recent meeting with an Afghan Taliban political delegation that visited Islamabad last week and congratulated him for successfully holding the second round of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) in Kabul on August 31.
During the APAPPS dialogue, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood reaffirmed Islamabad’s steadfast support for the Afghan peace process and reiterated that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
