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Friday, August 30, 2013
Pakistan assures Afghans of help in reconciliation processISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday termed the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as successful and said that it had assured Kabul of continuing help and assistance for success of the reconciliation and peace process.
Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, in his weekly press briefing said, “Pakistan has taken a principled stance of fully supporting the Afghan peace and reconciliation process and these sentiments were shared with President Karzai by the Pakistani leadership during his recent visit to Pakistan.”
The spokesman said, “Pakistan also supported the Doha talks.” He said Pakistan further believes that the Afghans themselves should lead the reconciliation process.
“We will facilitate in whatever manner we can. We have a genuine interest in seeing lasting peace in Afghanistan since peace in Afghanistan will usher peace in our region,” added the spokesman. The spokesman further said that Pakistan had expressed concern over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria. Pakistan, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations (UN), was of the view that sovereignty and integrity of Syria must be respected and there should be no foreign interference in Syria, he added.
He said the UN Investigation team was in Syria to investigate the use of chemical weapons and the international community should wait for the outcome of this investigation before taking any action against Syria.
The spokesman said National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz would take the parliament into confidence over the situation in Syria and the Line of Control (LoC).
He said that Pakistan and India were engaged in track-II diplomacy to move forward for the resolution of all outstanding issues.
Referring to the approval by the federal cabinet for signing the Council of Europe Convention on the transfer of sentenced persons, the spokesman said that the government was making sincere efforts to transfer Dr Afia Siddiqui so she could complete her sentence in Pakistan.
He said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior jointly pursued the signing of the Council of Europe Convention with the United States and other countries.
The spokesman said that the United States had not yet approached Pakistan for the transfer of Dr Shakeel Afridi. The spokesman said that Sartaj Aziz was likely to represent Pakistan in the forthcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). He said that the SCO was an important organisation playing a useful role in the region. He said that Pakistan was seeking permanent membership to the SCO and would remain engaged with the organisation. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk