Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
Qureshi is on the final leg of his tri-state visit aimed at diffusing US-Iran tensions, as instructed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, according toKarach-based newspaper website.
During the meeting, Qureshi also briefed Pompeo about discussions held during his visits to Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Matters concerning the Pakistan-US relationship, bilateral cooperation and the regional situation were also discussed in the meeting.
Qureshi during the meeting said that Pakistan desires peace and stability and is determined to play its role to defuse prevailing tensions in the region, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
He informed Pompeo about India's continuing human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, saying eight million people in the occupied region have been "kept confined" through a curfew imposed by New Delhi for the past five months.
He noted that a communications blackout in the valley remains in place in order "to conceal the facts from the world's view".
"The dream of a 'peaceful South Asia' of the US and Pakistan cannot be realised until the Kashmir dispute is resolved in accordance with United Nations resolutions and through a plebiscite
of eight million Kashmiris," the FO quoted Qureshi as saying.
The foreign minister said it was due to Pakistan and the US's joint efforts that the prospect of peace through a political settlement in Afghanistan is now on the horizon after four decades of conflict.
"Pakistan is fulfilling this joint responsibility for the Afghan peace process with sincerity of intent," he said.
According to the FO, Pompeo during the meeting appreciated Pakistan's "sincere efforts" for the Afghan reconciliation and peace process and a peaceful neighbourhood.
Agencies add: Pakistan said Thursday that the United States must remain engaged in Afghanistan's reconstruction even if it succeeds in withdrawing troops and ending its longest war.
Foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was visiting Washington where he is set to speak to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the growing momentum toward a deal between the United States and the Taliban.
Qureshi warned the United States not to return to neglect of Afghanistan, as seen after 1989 when Soviet troops pulled out under pressure from Islamic guerrillas backed by Washington and Islamabad.
"Do not repeat the '80s," Qureshi said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the eve of his talks with Pompeo.
"Even if there is a successful agreement, challenges will remain there, so the United States and its friends and coalition partners will have to have a more responsible withdrawal," he said.
"They should remain engaged - not to fight, but to rebuild," he said.
The United States returned to Afghanistan in 2001 in an invasion to out the Taliban, whose extremist regime welcomed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks.
President Donald Trump is eager to remove the more than 12,000 US troops remaining in Afghanistan, seeing the war as no longer worth its cost.
The Taliban, in their latest negotiations with the United States in Doha, have proposed a brief ceasefire in hopes of building momentum to a deal.
Qureshi says he has seen a willingness from the Taliban to reduce the violence.
"They are pragmatic and not foolish. They are also fatigued," he said at the event in Washington.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged the United States to work with Pakistan as it politically mainstreams and economically develops the former tribal areas.
Speaking at an event of reputed American think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on 'Reframing the US-Pakistan strategic relationship' in Washington DC late Thursday, the Foreign Minister said supporting economic activity along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border would benefit both sides.
Qureshi in a conversation moderated by CSIS President John J Hamre, Senior Vice President Daniel F Runde and Senior Adviser Seth G. Jones, touched several issues of regional and global importance ranging from Afghan peace, US-Iran standoff, Jammu and Kashmir situation and Pak-US bilateral ties.
Qureshi stressed that the recent tension between the US and Iran must not that put any negative impact on the peace process in Afghanistan, adding that "Having come this far, there should be zero-tolerance for any set-backs."
He said both Pakistan and the US had "shed too much blood and expended too much treasure" and now must "honor the memory of our fallen soldiers and countrymen by successfully accomplishing the mission in Afghanistan."
He said Pakistan had long argued that there was no military solution to Afghanistan with Prime Minister Imran Khan one of the first leaders in the region who consistently advocated a political route towards peace in Afghanistan.
Considering Afghanistan a shared responsibility, he said Pakistan was playing its role and warned the stakeholders to be vigilant against "spoilers" as "not every country in the broader region wanted to see peace in Afghanistan".
The Foreign Minister called upon the US to ensure phased and orderly withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan to not repeat the mistakes of '80s.
"Continued international engagement for reconstruction and sustained development, would be pivotal," he said, mentioning its positive outcome for honorable return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
The Foreign Minister pointed out that Pakistan and the US must not remain hostage to the Afghan conflict and instead, take a fresh look to enrich their historic relationship by working together for Afghan peace.
"We want this rather unhelpful framework to change. Pakistan-US relations are too significant, and possess too huge potential to be confined to the Afghan prism alone," he said.
Qureshi said his recent visits to three capitals; Tehran, Riyadh and Washington, was on instruction of Prime Minister Imran Khan to convey Pakistan's message to remain "partner for peace rather than be a part of any war in the region".
He mentioned that Pakistan had close ties with both Saudi Arabia and Iran and recalled that the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington looked after Iranian interests in the United States since Islamic Revolution.
"Deeply cognizant of the security and economic perils that a new war or a military confrontation entails, Pakistan has been ready from the outset to support efforts for defusing tensions and removing misunderstandings," he said.
He said Pakistan welcomed the indication given by both the US and Iran to de-escalate tensions and clearly saw space for diplomacy. "Teetering on the brink, the world is direly yearning to see a glimmer of hope," he added.
On situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Qureshi said Indian state terrorism and repression in the Valley and the BJP government's incitement of religious hatred and frenzy in India had dangerous implications for the region.
"The adherents of Hinduvta and Akhand Bharat have established their ascendency with disastrous consequences for all in India and the world to see," he said.
Qureshi said the Indian narrative that Kashmir was its "internal matter" was firmly refuted by its being on the Security Council agenda.
Equally insulting to the intelligence of the world community is the bizarre Indian argument that it is for "economic development" of the Kashmiris - Yes, economic development being delivered at gun point by over 900,000 occupation troops," he said.
If not addressed, he warned that crisis in Kashmir had the potential to become a flashpoint between two countries with strategic capabilities.
He expressed the hope that US President Donald Trump, who offered mediation on Kashmir, would be successful in realizing his goal and could make a lasting contribution to sustainable peace in South Asia.
Qureshi pointed out that "force-fitting Pakistan-China relations into the currently popular framework of "great power competition" distorts the picture" and stressed that "far from being suspicious of CPEC, supporters of peace in the region should welcome the project."
Comments
Comments are closed.