By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday held a telephonic conversation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Hanif and discussed the Afghan peace process and regional security with him.
FM Qureshi said Pakistan desires a peaceful, prosperous and stable Afghanistan and underscored that peace in Afghanistan is linked with peace and stability of region. He said intra Afghan dialogue provides an excellent opportunity for peace and the Afghan leadership must seize it. It is imperative to make the intra Afghan dialogue result oriented in order to realise the dream of durable peace in Afghanistan. he stressed.
Shah Mahmood said Pakistan will continue its sincere efforts for peace and stability in the region including Afghanistan. Alluding to historic fraternal ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said Pakistan has announced a new visa policy to facilitate Afghan people intending to travel to the country.
Speaking at Pakistan-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Forum in Islamabad on Monday, PM Imran Khan had underscored that peace in the neighbouring country is vital to boosting trade and economic activities in the region to bring prosperity and provide job opportunities to people. Prime Minister Khan voiced Pakistan’s concerns regarding India’s hostile posture towards it and the Muslims, saying Delhi could use Afghan soil to cause instability in Pakistan.“Our government has decided to strengthen ties with Kabul, no matter who is in power, to counter India’s evil designs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi lauded on Wednesday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s clear stance against the growing trend of Islamophobia.
In a telephonic conversation, the FM felicitated his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Turkey’s 97th Republic Day, and also discussed bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest.
Furthermore, Qureshi thanked the Turkish minister for supporting Pakistan on FATF. Cavusoglu appreciated Pakistan’s efforts regarding successful implementation of the FATF action plan. He also commended Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement on Islamophobia.
The Turkish minister also expressed grief on and condoled the loss of lives in the Peshawar blast. On October 26, Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris.
Today, Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote letters to heads of Muslim states urging them to “act collectively” and counter the growth of Islamophobia in non-Muslim countries, especially in European nations. Anger has grown in the Muslim world over remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron in a row over blasphemous cartoons.
The dispute has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on Oct. 16, in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils the cartoons in a civics lesson on freedom of speech.
A day ago, on October 27, Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan also asked his compatriots to stop buying French goods in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over blasphemous images displayed in France. In Bangladesh, the same day, protesters held placards with a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron and the words: “Macron is the enemy of peace”.
