Pakistan and Russia have agreed to support the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process to restore peace and stability in Afghanistan, as the two sides underscored the need for harmonising various regional approaches for developing a regional consensus on various issues.
This was agreed in a meeting of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, as Qureshi concluded his four-nation tour to Afghanistan, Iran, China and Russia as part of the government's policy of outreach in the neighbourhood.
According to a statement issued here by Foreign Office, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited the Russian Federation on December 25-26, 2018.
Qureshi led detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, on various bilateral and regional issues. It stated that Foreign Minister Qureshi conveyed to his Russian counterpart that Pakistan greatly values its relations with the Russian Federation. He also expressed the government of Pakistan's desire to forge a long-term multidimensional partnership and friendship with Russia.
Both sides expressed satisfaction on the upward trajectory of bilateral relations, it noted, adding that the first meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev in Shanghai in November 2018 had set the tone to deepen cooperation in all areas.
"Views were also exchanged to support each other's position in multilateral forums. It was also decided to maintain close and regular contacts for strengthening understanding on important issues," it added. "The ministers agreed to continue efforts, including through Moscow Format of Consultations, for supporting reconciliation under an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process," it stated, adding that recent developments concerning Afghan peace process were also discussed.
It was underlined that being the most important stakeholders, Pakistan and Russia had shared interests and concerns in Afghanistan and had the common goal of supporting all efforts to restore peace and stability in the country, it added.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov acknowledged Pakistan's efforts in the Afghan settlement and offered Russia's support to bring stability in the region. "Both leaders also underscored the need to harmonise various regional approaches for developing a regional consensus on various issues," the statement added.
With the visit to Russia, Foreign Minister Qureshi concluded his important four-nation trip to the regional countries, which according to Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal, was part of the government's policy of outreach in the neighbourhood.
During his trip to the regional countries, Foreign Minister Qureshi visited Kabul on December 24 and discussed further strengthening of bilateral relations, besides briefing President Ashraf Ghani and Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani on the recent developments on peace process after the meeting between Taliban and the United States in Dubai, in which Saudi Arabia and the UAE also participated.
Qureshi also held detailed talks with his Iranian counterpart Dr Javad Zarif in Tehran on December 24 on strengthening close bilateral relations, culture and people-to-people ties and reaffirmed to increase cooperation. The two sides also agreed to work closely on the issue of Afghanistan and the reconciliation efforts in the war-torn country.
On December 25, Foreign Minister Qureshi met Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing and the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and regional matters including the situation in Afghanistan.
While discussing the evolving political dynamics in Afghanistan, the two sides underscored commonality of views on the matter. Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that as neighbouring countries and friends of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China strongly support Afghan-led and Afghan owned peace process. He also appreciated China's important role in furtherance of peace and development in Afghanistan, particularly through China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral mechanism.
Expressing satisfaction over the strong bilateral partnership, Qureshi highlighted that CPEC has added an important dimension to bilateral ties. He noted the important progress made on CPEC during the 8th meeting of JCC held in Beijing on December 20, 2018.
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