Resolving Afghan issue: shift in US thinking vindicates stance of PM: Qureshi

Foreign Minster Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that some terror elements are still present in Afghanistan which enter Pakistan to carry out attacks, adding they have their own agenda and do not want peace in the region.
"Such elements want to sabotage the ongoing negotiations for peace in the region. We also discussed this with the US administration during the recent visit. There are spoilers who will always be spoilers. Pakistan wants reconciliation in Afghanistan to reach its logical conclusion," said the minister while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday.
Responding to the opposition leader about the US visit, he said that Prime Minister Imran had convinced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the Trump administration that Pakistan is engaging the Afghan Taliban in a bid to take the peace process forward.
He said that the shift in the US thinking to resolve Afghan impasse vindicates the stance of Prime Minister Imran Khan that only way to achieve peace in Afghanistan is through political solution. He said that the convergence of Pak-US views on resolution of Afghan conflict was not an easy task.
He said that all political parties should play their due role to establish peace and develop the region. He said that the government welcomed the opposition's suggestion to hold debate on the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to America. He said that he has called a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affaires to take opposition into confidence about the US visit. He said that he would take the committee into confidence on the full context, substance and contents of Prime Minister Imran Khan's recent visit to the United States.
The minister said that whole nation will have to come together to safeguard the interests of the country and support the government's efforts to create a favourable environment for peace in the region.
About the recent two attacks on the personnel of armed forces and law-enforcement agencies in North Waziristan and Balochistan that left 10 personnel martyred, the minister said, "We may have differences of political nature but there is no difference in this nation on Pakistan's borders, geography, ideology and defence."
He added, "We should show unity and the world expects Pakistan to reaffirm that we are one nation with one objective of peace. We want peace and stability and it is linked with Afghanistan's peace and stability."
The minister said that negotiations with Afghan Taliban are moving forward positively. He said that the Prime Minister has presented Pakistan's stance to the Trump administration.
He said that Trump administration in 2017 had announced the South Asia strategy through which the onus of all hardships faced by Washington in Afghanistan was put on Pakistan. Security and economic assistance and even training programmes for Pakistan were suspended by the US and there was an agreement in the US Congress against Pakistan, he added.
But there has been a "gradual change of thought" during the PTI government's 11 months in power, with the US and its allies reaching a "convergence" with Prime Minister Imran Khan that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict, he said.
While appreciating the role of the Parliament, the minister said that the Parliament played an important role in devising the National Action Plan (NAP) and merging the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said that holding of free, fair and peaceful election in FATA is a big achievement. He said that Rs 162 billion have been budgeted for the development of erstwhile FATA, which would bring prosperity for the people. He said that Pakistan also invested heavily in border fencing as part of its efforts to secure regional peace.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif criticised the government for 'ill-treatment' of MNA Rana Sanaullah. He said that there is no bed, mattress, cot or chair in his cell and he has no option but to sleep on floor.
He said that Sanaullah is a member of this House and has served as Punjab's law minister for 10 years. "Does he not have the right to have a proper bed in his cell?" he remarked, adding that even convicted persons are not treated in this way.
"Rana Sana's wife, daughter and son-in-law are the only people allowed to meet him. I wanted to meet him in jail but my request was denied and when I tried to meet him in court, the government made that hard as well," he added.
He said that many lawmakers are absent from the National Assembly session due to the non-issuance of their production orders. He said that the production orders of Asif Ali Zardari, Rana Sanaullah, Saad Rafique, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and members form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be issued.
The opposition leader also strongly condemned the terrorist attacks on the Armed Forces and said that investigation should be conducted. He also said that the House be informed about the Prime Minister's US visit.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that the Speaker should issue production orders of the members who have been arrested on various charges.
He said, "The Prime Minister should not play the role of a jailer by giving statement that we will stop food, AC and other facilities in jail." Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed while speaking on the floor said, "We will allow the PPP and PML-N leaders to go anywhere they want, either UK or US, if they return looted money of the country."