Lavrov: Russia, Pakistan have similar views on Afghanistan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Russia hopes the March 18 meeting of the extended ‘Troika’ in Moscow will give an impetus to intra-Afghan peace negotiations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, currently on a two-day visit to Islamabad, lauded Pakistan’s proactive role in bringing the Afghan adversaries to the negotiating table.

He recalled Moscow had also hosted separate meetings between an Afghan delegation led by High Council for National Reconciliation Chairman Abdullah Abdullah and Taliban representatives.

“We consider it important that both sides speak in favour of intensifying the intra-Afghan negotiation process,” he noted, hailing India as a responsible world power.

He opined disagreements between nations in any region of the world, including South Asia, should be resolved in a peaceful, civilised manner based on international law.

Russia and Pakistan, enjoying friendly relations, had a similarity of approaches to topical issues on the international and regional agenda, the visiting dignitary said.

Among them are issues of strategic stability and of course the situation in Afghanistan, Lavrov commented.

During the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, he said, Pakistan supported all draft resolutions submitted by Russia, and co-sponsored most of them.

“Of course, we appreciate Islamabad’s contribution to the advancement of national reconciliation in Afghanistan, including through the mechanism of the extended “Troika”.

“I would like to note that our states are consistent proponents of settling conflicts including in the Middle East and North Africa solely by political and diplomatic means in compliance with the principles of the UN Charter.”

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