Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support for the Afghan peace process.

According to the details, while addressing a conference at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad alongside Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, FM welcomed his delegation to Pakistan and expressed hope that his visit will open a new chapter in bilateral relations.

He said Pakistan respects the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. He categorically said Pakistan has no favorites and it does not want to meddle in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

As the intra Afghan dialogue are continuing, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan will accept the will of the people of Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister emphasized the need for greater collaboration between the two countries in different fields to build a common future.

Reaffirming Pakistan’s steadfast support for the peace process, Foreign Minister Qureshi emphasized that Pakistan has always maintained there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and encouraged all parties to reach a political solution through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process.

Qureshi noted that it was now up to the Afghan leadership to seize this historic opportunity to bring an end to the decades-long conflict and to secure an inclusive, broad-based, and comprehensive political settlement.

Foreign Minister underscored Pakistan’s support for a peaceful, stable, united, sovereign, and prosperous Afghanistan. He stressed that mistakes of the past should not be repeated and neither should past history dictate the future course of action.

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Qureshi further underlined that there was a need to guard against the detrimental role of ‘spoilers,’ both within and outside Afghanistan, who do not wish to see the return of peace to the region.

Qureshi highlighted the high importance Pakistan attached to its brotherly relations with Afghanistan.

Emphasizing the importance of bilateral economic relations, the Foreign Minister noted that negotiations for the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and revision of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) will commence soon to optimally utilize our capacities for mutually beneficial trade and transit.

On the other hand, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, has thanked Pakistan for its efforts to take the Afghan peace process to its logical conclusion.