Political settlement the way forward in Afghanistan: Qureshi

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): A negotiated political settlement is the only way forward for Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi believes.

“It is a unique opportunity for Afghans to show farsightedness. If they suffer, everybody will suffer. It is important that Afghans sit together and find a way forward,” Qureshi said on Friday.

At a joint media briefing with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavusoglu in Ankara, he insisted there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict.

Pakistan had always urged, and would continue to persuade, all the Afghan parties to sit together and find a way forward, Qureshi said after meeting Turkish and Afghan foreign ministers.

A peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in the best interest of Pakistan, which had suffered due to the war in Afghanistan mire than any other country in the world, he remarked.

During the trilateral talks, Qureshi said, issues related to Afghanistan, including economic, security, migration and refugees came up for discussion.

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