Qureshi for Pak-Afghan intelligence sharing, avoiding blame game
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ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi emphasized the need to improve coordination among the law enforcement institutions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, intelligence sharing and avoiding blame game to defeat terrorism.
The foreign minister said this during his bilateral meetings with Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Afghan Foreign Minster Salahuddin Rabbani during his visit to Kabul for the 2nd Pakistan-China-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ dialogue in Kabul, a Foreign Office statement said.
He discussed with the Afghan leadership, the recent efforts for initiating peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and assured Pakistan’s support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
He said that Pakistan along with other regional and international stakeholders would take steps to facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue in good faith.
The foreign minister underscored that bilateral engagement remained the most viable platform for addressing matters of mutual interest and in this regard the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) provided the most effective mechanism.
Underlining the importance of people to people contacts, the foreign minister proposed visits by national cricket teams of the two countries and exchange of poets, academia and organizing frequent cultural activities.
Both sides exchanged views to further promote bilateral transit and trade. Qureshi underscored the importance of enhanced economic activity for the betterment of people, particularly youth.
To follow-up on Saturday’s discussions on economic and trade cooperation, the Afghan finance minister will be visiting Pakistan in near future.
The Afghan leadership appreciated Pakistan’s positive role in advancing the cause of Afghan peace process and agreed to take joint steps for strengthening bilateral ties and agreed to expand cooperation and coordination against terrorism. They also agreed to use APAPPS mechanism to enhance institutional engagement between the two countries in all areas of cooperation.
APP
