Pakistan’s desire for peace with and within Afghanistan shouldn't be taken for granted by Afghan MOFA

Pakistan’s desire for peace with and within Afghanistan shouldn't be taken for granted by Afghan MOFA

KABUL - The Afghan foreign ministry said the focus of the next meeting will be on fighting terrorism and on Pakistan’s honesty in dealing with terrorism.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said Monday that the 6th quadrilateral meeting will be held in Oman on October 16 and will be attended by representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States. 

The Afghan foreign ministry said counterterrorism efforts and reviewing Pakistan’s honesty in counterterror efforts will be the key discussions during the meeting. 

“Afghanistan’s political deputy foreign minister will attend and from China and America their representatives will also participate at the meeting. Two topics will be discussed: counterterrorism, and Pakistan’s honesty in fulfilling its promises that it will make inthe presence of China and the US at the meeting,” MoFA deputy spokesman Sebghat Saba said. 

The first quadrilateral meeting was held between the four countries on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Summit in Islamabad in 2015. 

Following this meeting, four others have been held between the four countries.

On Monday, the Afghan foreign ministry said they want to resume the quadrilateral meetings and this time they will discuss the issues around anti-terror efforts and Pakistan’s honesty in fighting terrorism.

“Goals will be determined at this meeting and in order to follow the goals, they will establish a mechanism. We hope that the meeting has good results,” National Security Council spokesman Qadir Shah said. 

Meanwhile, the High Peace Council (HPC) on Monday held a meeting with all its provincial directors in Kabul where they discussed practical ways to bring peace to the war-torn country. 

HPC Chairman Mohammad Karim Khalili said at the meeting that the international community needs to support the peace process. 

“We want the region and international community to support the Afghan peace process and to put into practice what they say, because the cost of peace talks is less than the cost of war on these countries,” said Khalili.