*WASHINGTON – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said thatPakistan’s contribution to the success of the US in Afghanistan has not berecognized.*
He said Pakistan’s support saved the US billions of dollars.
Describing his meetings with top officials from the Trump administration as“engaging and forward looking”, Qureshi said that Pakistan and the UnitedStates need to bridge the trust deficit and build on their history ofcooperation for achieving shared objectives, including peace and stabilityin war-torn Afghanistan.
“I am going back with positive view of hope and change,” he said whilespeaking at an event in Washington. “Individually, we might not be able toachieve what we want to. Collectively, in my opinion, we can.”
Qureshi described his meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo andNational Security Adviser John Bolton as engaging and forward looking andsaid the two countries need to build on their history of cooperation.
“We have to trust each other,” the Minister said, adding that history iswitnessed to the fact that both countries benefitted when they workedtogether, be it Cold War, Soviet invasion or decimation of al-Qaida.
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The Minister said that there had been highs and lows in bilateral relationsand the past two years had been difficult, but the two countries have torebuild and improve relations to achieve collective objectives of peace,reconciliation and stability.
The Minister said that over 500,000 US containers went through Pakistan toAfghanistan over the years and were treated as diplomatic cargos.
Minister Qureshi said that it was unfair to blame Pakistan for all thedifficulties in Afghanistan, adding that Pakistan could not and should notbe held responsible for failure in Afghanistan. He said that Afghanistanhad its own problems, which contributed to the situation there.
Collectively we can achieve shared objectives. Blame game will not beproductive.”
