ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that it will continue to work towards achieving a lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the parties to the Afghan conflict should not miss the opportunity to work out an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement.
“Pakistan has been consistently supporting and facilitating the efforts for durable peace and stability in Afghanistan,” he further said in reference to the postponement of the Afghan peace process conference due to be held in Turkey.
Turkey had announced on Tuesday that an international peace conference on Afghanistan scheduled for April 24 in Istanbul has been postponed until mid-May.
“We have always maintained that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan,” said the spokesperson.
The postponement comes after the US administration of President Joe Biden last week announced the withdrawal of all American forces from Afghanistan before this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Turkey had first announced the conference, co-sponsored by the United Nations and Qatar, to run from April 24 to May 4. Ankara said the talks would be between representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan attaches great value to Turkey’s efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan. “We believe that the meeting of Afghan leadership in Turkey, on the new dates once finalised, would be an important opportunity for the Afghans to make progress towards a negotiated political settlement.”
