Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan is that of ‘facilitator’, not ‘guarantor’ of peace, says Qureshi

Making it clear that Pakistan could not be held responsible for the ‘failures’ of other parties to the Afghan conflict and that Afghan government’s accusations against the country were baseless, Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday that some elements did not want peace in Pakistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said categorically that Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan was that of a ‘facilitator’ and not that of a ‘guarantor’ of peace. “These are the Afghans who have to guarantee peace in their country,” he said.

He asserted that Pakistan should have been invited to the United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) meeting where Afghan representative spat venom at the country so that it could defend itself.

Reiterating that Pakistan did not have any favourite in Afghanistan, Qureshi asserted that Pakistan wanted lasting peace in the war-torn country. “Negotiations are the only way out of the predicament Afghanistan finds itself in,” the FM stated, and added, “It was Pakistan which had played a major role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table in 2019. And these were us who had invited Afghan leaders belonging to different factions and parties to a conference in Islamabad sans Taliban.”

And the same conference, the FM added, was postponed on the insistence of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

He reminded that Pakistan had suffered the most on account of decades-old wars and turmoil in its neighbour to the west.