ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday urged Pakistanand Afghanistan to find political will for resolving mutual differences attheir own, without involvement of third party.
“It’s time for Pakistan and Afghanistan to build bridges, not burn. We needto sit, ponder and carve a future together,” the Foreign Minister said inhis address at the Track-II Bilateral Dialogue on Afghanistan and Pakistan,attended by academics and intellectuals representing both counties.
Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed that with their future and geographytied, Pakistan and Afghanistan needed to understand their shared challengesand also find common solutions to address these.
“Do the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan need a third party to tell whatis in their interest? Can’t we decide for ourselves? Sooner we realize, thebetter it would be,” he said.
Qureshi expressed Pakistan’s sincere desire to ensure peace in Afghanistanand said the country was determined to strengthen bilateral relations bydeepening cooperation.
“Today in Pakistan, we have a government in place extending hand offriendship to their Afghan brothers. This is a historic moment. If we missthis opportunity, the future generations would curse the governments ofboth sides,” he said.
As a Foreign Minister, Qureshi said he would like Pakistan and Afghanistanto see their people play cricket together, witness the energy flow fromnorth to south and enjoy the benefits of new economic corridor.
“We have seen happiness and sorrows together. Now, let us build a new trustand a new beginning to fight poverty and corruption together,” he said.
Qureshi said history showed that all super powers failed whenever tried toovercome the dignified people of Afghans.
“Afghans are proud and dignified people, not accepting masters but friends.History can be unforgiving, if anyone does not learn from it,” he added.
He termed intra-Afghan dialogue essential for sustainable peace inAfghanistan and stressed that it was only up to the people of Afghanistanto decide about their future.
“Pakistan would continue to play its role in good faith and as sharedresponsibility and calls upon all stakeholders to contribute sincerely tomake the peace process successful,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said Pakistan believed that regional countries had acritical role in Afghanistan’s stability and mentioned that in order tosolidify regional cooperation and develop consensus, he visited China,Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Qatar and United Arab Emirates to hold severalrounds of consultations on the ongoing peace process.
Qureshi regretted the postponement of Doha dialogue between the Afghandelegation and Taliban, which was due to be held earlier this month.
He mentioned the intrinsic linkage between the economies of Pakistan andAfghanistan, with former being the largest trading partner and largestimporter of Afghan imports.
Pakistan is also part of multiple bilateral and regional connectivityinitiatives like Peshawar-Kabul Motorway, Torkham-Jalalabad dualcarriageway, Chaman-Qandhar railway, TAPI and CASSA energy initiatives, headded.
He said Pakistan was providing assistance to Afghanistan in reconstructionof various projects including building of hospitals, highways and schools.
The recent joint inauguration of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul onApril 20th built with US$245 million was presented to the Afghan governmentand the people as a gift from Pakistan, he added.
He said over 50,000 Afghan youth studied in Pakistan over the years, inaddition to 6,000 fully funded scholarships offered to Afghan students and1,000 seats dedicated for women to encourage female education.