ISTANBUL: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday said Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries should have only supportive role in ensuring peace, security and territorial integrity of the war-torn country and the Istanbul Regional Conference would help further this cherished objective.
Talking to APP in Istanbul where she would represent the country at the Istanbul Regional Conference on Wednesday, Khar said the meeting was being attended by immediate and extended neighbours of Afghanistan and important countries of the world with stakes in that country.
The foreign minister said the conference would lead up to different peace processes, including the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan next month and the Chicago conference.
She expressed hope that the conference would give confidence to Afghanistan that all important players were supporting its initiatives for peace and stability.
She said Pakistan would support all initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
Commenting on proposals being floated by some countries aimed at creating a new security structure in the region vis-à-vis Afghanistan, Khar pointed out that there was no dearth of mechanisms in the region.
“We have so many mechanisms including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in which Pakistan has an observer's status, the Saarc and the ECO,” she added.
The minister said that instead of proposing new mechanisms, efforts should be made towards the implementation of existing mechanisms for peace, security and development in the region.
She said any new structure would not benefit Afghanistan and any process for a solution of the Afghan problem should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
The minister said it should be for the Afghans themselves to decide their future. Being an important neighbour, Pakistan would support its efforts in this regard, she added.
Replying to a question about the inclusion of India in the Regional Conference, the foreign minister said all countries that could help promote peace in Afghanistan were welcome and that Pakistan had no problem with any country.
She said, “Pakistan is an important and responsible state committed to peace and security in Afghanistan.”
About the inclusion of the Afghan resistance forces in the peace process, she said it was for Afghanistan and the Afghan people and government to decide on this issue.
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