Staff Reporter Islamabad
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said that Pakistan wants broad-ranging, long-term and stable relations with the United States to promote economic cooperation and establish peace in the region.
He made the comments during a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan.
The two sides discussed bilateral relations, Afghanistan and the regional situation during the meeting, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.
Qureshi stressed that a proper dialogue between the two countries was “necessary” for mutual benefit of the US and Pakistan as well as the promotion of regional objectives, the FO statement said.
The foreign minister said Pakistan and US had similar perspectives and stressed the importance of a peaceful solution to the situation in Afghanistan.
He further said Pakistan hoped the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan would work for the betterment of all Afghan citizens alongside peace and stability.
“A representative and inclusive [Afghan] government can be a trustworthy partner for the international community.
In the current situation, there is a need for proper steps by the international community to ensure positive inclusion, provision of humanitarian aid and financial resources [to set up] a stable economy to solve the problems of the Afghan public,” the statement quoted Qureshi as saying.
The foreign minister also stressed on a
solution to the Kashmir dispute for lasting peace and stability in the South Asian region while apprising the US delegation of the human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
He also thanked the US deputy secretary of state for the country’s donation of Covid-19 vaccines to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Sherman offered condolences on the lives lost in the earthquake in Balochistan’s Harnai district a day earlier.
She also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to evacuate foreign citizens from Afghanistan as well as its efforts for regional peace, the FO statement said.
The US official praised the progress in talks between the US and Pakistan on climate change and alternate sources of energy.The meeting was also attended by US Assistant Secretary of South and Central Asian Affairs David Lu and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood.
In a tweet later in the day, Sherman said she discussed Afghanistan’s future and the important and long-standing US-Pakistan relationship with Qureshi during the meeting. “We look forward to continuing to address pressing regional and global challenges,” she added.
