US-Taliban deal first step towards bringing permanent peace in Afghanistan: Qureshi

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said that landmark Doha Peace Accord between the United States and Afghan Taliban is a first step towards bringing permanent peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Qureshi who was in Qatar’s capital Doha on a three-day visit attended the historic signing ceremony of a peace agreement between the United States and Afghan Taliban as representative of Pakistan.

Addressing a news briefing along with Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood in Islamabad on Sunday, he said peace deal has paved the way for Intra-Afghan negotiations, and Norway has expressed its willingness to hold the dialogue.

“In Pakistan’s view this agreement is a key development as the people of Afghanistan want peace after a long war,” he said and congratulated Taliban as well as the United States over the agreement.

“Now it is going to be seen whether the parties are ready to show flexibility and how seriously the agreement being implemented,” Qureshi said.

“The people want peace, now it is the test of the leadership how they act flexibly, what steps the Afghan leadership takes for the roadmap (to the peace). They prefer the national interests or personal interests,” Pakistan’s foreign minister said.

The critics of Pakistan have also lauded its role in the peace deal, Qureshi said.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he raised issues important for peace in Afghanistan, in a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He said he urged Secretary Pompeo for keeping close eye on those within and outside Afghanistan who could create problems for the peace process. “A positive momentum could only sustain with further progress,” Qureshi said.

Qureshi urged for rapid progress and avoiding delay in talks between Afghans. He said he also talked with the US Secretary of State for attention on political instability within Afghanistan. “We don’t want the impact of internal Afghanistan politics over the peace process,” he said.

The signing ceremony of a peace agreement between the United States and Afghan Taliban, was also attended by representatives of fifty countries, including foreign ministers.

Following successful dialogue, the United States and the Afghan Taliban signed the peace deal, marking an end to the 18-year-war in Afghanistan.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar signed the agreement as representatives from each side.

The US and NATO troops will withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months, a joint declaration said, which released minutes before the deal was signed.