Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said he will visit Kabul on December 15 to take up the matter of “political reconciliation and durable peace” with Afghan leadership in as the United States has sought Pakistan’s cooperation for peace and stability in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Dawn News reported.
Addressing a ceremony in Multan, Qureshi said it was the robustness of Pakistan’s foreign policy that the US requested for assistance in Afghan issue, Radio Pakistan reported.
He said Pakistan was committed to an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process”.
Qureshi said that that Pakistan’s foreign policy was moving on a positive trajectory based on national interest and self-reliance.
On Tuesday, Qureshi had reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Afghan peace process in his meeting with US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. The US special envoy tasked with finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan’s 17-year old war.
“Pakistan will continue to cooperate with sincerity for a political settlement in Afghanistan. Long-lasting peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s best interest,” Qureshi tweeted after his meeting with the visiting US special envoy.
On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an interview with The Washington Post, expressed his desire to have “a proper relationship with the US” akin to Islamabad’s ties with China rather than the one “where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun”.
This comes as Zalmay Khalilzad is in his multi-nation tour for Afghan peace. He met with Afghan government leaders in Kabul last week on Wednesday. He also visited Islamabad.
According to the US Department of State, Khalilzad’s trip includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The trip will continue until December 20.
The trip is aimed at supporting and facilitating an inclusive peace process in Afghanistan while empowering the Afghan people to decide their nation’s fate, the US Department of State said last week.
