ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the peace, prosperity and economic development of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan are linked.
In his virtual address at the 4th China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue on Thursday, the foreign minister said that Pakistan has always strived to strengthen its relations with China and Afghanistan in the bilateral as well as regional context.
“We attach great importance to this dialogue enhancing cooperation and coordination,” he said. Qureshi said that it was about four years ago that the three countries had conceived this trilateral forum for discussing collaborative efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region, enhancing security and counter-terrorism cooperation and deepening regional connectivity and shared economic development through meaningful projects.
The foreign minister said that since then, Pakistan has successfully moved forward this forum through a gradual, phased but consistent approach.
He said that the United States and NATO forces have already started withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. He also said that while the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan entails serious security challenges, it also offers a unique opportunity for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and moving the country from a perpetual internal conflict to an era of peace and stability.
“We should, therefore, explore how our three neighbourly countries can work together to deal with the evolving situation in an effective manner and steer it towards achieving our shared objective of lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region,” he said.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan, China and Afghanistan are located in a region which has immense opportunities for fostering mutually beneficial economic and development cooperation. “Our three geographically linked countries straddle historical routes traversing east-west and north-south,” he added.
Qureshi said that durable peace and stability in Afghanistan would lead to a conducive environment for harnessing the true potential of regional connectivity and further deepening economic interdependence through use of innovation and technological advances.
“Such an outcome will surely contribute to progress, welfare and better lives for the peoples of our countries,” he added.
Qureshi expressed the confidence that the deliberations of the trilateral meeting on all the agenda items would be constructive, meaningful and result-oriented. He thanked State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi for hosting the meeting and welcomed Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar joining in.
