ISLAMABAD – The foreign minister said both Pakistan and Russia have beenmaking efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. He saidPakistan supports the “role played by Russia in developing a regionalapproach to Afghanistan” and its “commendable” efforts for eliminating IS.
“We remain committed to fighting the menace of terrorism in cooperationwith the international community including Russia despite our heavy humanand material losses,” he said, noting that Pakistan has lost more than70,000 people in the anti-terrorism fight.
Asif said Pakistan as a matter of principle opposes the imposition ofunilateral sanctions against any country including the Russian Federation”especially when these are politically motivated”.
According to a Foreign Office (FO) press release, Asif and his Russiancounterpart during their consultations expressed satisfaction at theincreasing bilateral cooperation between the two countries and agreed tofurther intensify efforts to deepen cooperation in all areas of mutualinterest.
Discussing the situation in Afghanistan, the two foreign ministers agreedthat there was no military solution to the conflict in that country.
They agreed to closely coordinate in all Afghanistan-related processes fora regional solution of the Afghan conflict.
The Russian diplomat also “deeply appreciated Pakistan’s efforts andsacrifices in the fight against terrorism”, the FO statement said.