ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Office has said that it is regrettable that certain sections of the media have misquoted and twisted the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s remarks about the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process.
In response to media queries regarding Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s misquoted remarks regarding IS and Taliban circulating on social media, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that in fact, the foreign minister clearly spoke about consensus among the international community, the regional players and the Afghans themselves against the menace of terrorism.
The Spokesperson said that the foreign minister’s remarks cannot be in anyway be misconstrued as advocacy for a particular side in the Afghan conflict.
Chaudhri said that we have repeatedly stated that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan.
“We see all sides in the conflict as Afghans who need to decide about their future themselves,” he said. “We will continue to play a constructive facilitation role in the Afghan peace process.”
The Foreign Office Spokesperson further said that we would once again reiterate that right now all energies should be focused on finding an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan.”
