Pakistan played vital role in US-Taliban negotiations: FM Qureshi

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday termed the recent negotiations between the United States and the Afghan Taliban as a "major diplomatic victory" and said Pakistan played a vital role in bringing the Taliban leadership to the table. 

A day earlier, the US and the Taliban made substantial headway in negotiations held in Qatar to end the 17-year US war in Afghanistan. 

Zalmay Khalilzad, who was named by US President Donald Trump´s administration to find a way out of the war, held an unusually long six days of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar. While no details were revealed, floated proposals include a withdrawal by the United States of its troops in return for Taliban guarantees not to shelter foreign extremists -- the initial reason for the US intervention.

Speaking to the media in Multan, Foreign Minister Qureshi welcomed the development and highlighted the role played by Pakistan in the Afghan peace process. “Pakistan played a vital role in bringing the US and the Taliban to the negotiation table," he said.

Pakistan is concerned about peace in the region, not money, he added. “We had decided to move forward with peace. The world has accepted Pakistan’s stance on the peace process.”

The foreign minister further said peace in the region is not possible without dialogue. “Pakistan has pursued a regional outlook by reaching out to different countries and advocating its resolve for a stable and peaceful region.”

US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted after the talks: "Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issues.

"We will build on the momentum and resume talks shortly. We have a number of issues left to work out," he further said. "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and 'everything' must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire."

Trump has been eager to end America's longest war, which was launched shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Trump has already said he will pull half of the 14,000 US troops from Afghanistan.

PAC chairman should be from opposition

Responding to a question about the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Qureshi said, “The PAC chairman should be from the opposition, however, the attitude of the opposition has hindered the proceedings of the National Assembly.”

He added, the opposition has the right to express their point of view but they can do so without creating a hullabaloo.

“Imran Khan’s government is not here to do bargaining. We have never bargained over Pakistan’s interest in the past, nor will we in the future,” Qureshi said.

The minister further informed he will be visiting Oman on Tuesday to discuss bilateral and regional cooperation with the leadership of the country. He will next embark on a visit to London on February 3 to raise the Kashmir issue in the House of Commons and present Pakistan’s stance on India’s continued atrocities in the valley.