FM, Iran’s special envoy discuss Afghan peace process, bilateral ties

ISLAMABAD, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Iran’s Special Envoy on Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian Fard on Thursday met here and discussed the Afghan peace process besides the security situation in the region.

In a meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qureshi said Pakistan considered peace in Afghanistan essential for the region’s peace.

The foreign minister stressed that Pakistan always supported the notion that there was no military solution to the Afghan problem.

He said a sustainable Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political solution through a comprehensive dialogue was the best option to resolve the conflict.

He mentioned that the unrest in Afghanistan had affected both Pakistan and Iran, and said that rising violence could strengthen “spoilers”.

Qureshi emphasized that the Afghan factions must take immediate steps to make the Afghan peace process fruitful through dialogue.

He said peace in Afghanistan would help boost trade activity, repatriate Afghan refugees and help regional stability.

He also conveyed the best wishes of the Pakistani leadership to the newly elected President of Iran Syed Ibrahim Raisi.

Iran’s Special Envoy on Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian Fard thanked Foreign Minister Qureshi and expressed desire for joint efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

The two sides also discussed Pak-Iran bilateral relations and other areas of interest.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan had fulfilled 26 out of 27 action items of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), there was no justification to keep the country in the grey list.

The foreign minister in a statement mentioned that Pakistan had fulfilled maximum technical requirements regarding FATF.

The five-day virtual meeting of the FATF began on June 21 in Paris, France and will public its findings on June 25.

Qureshi said India was making attempts to misuse the forum of FATF for political purposes and doing continuous propaganda against Pakistan.

He said Pakistan took concrete steps to curb money-laundering and terrorist financing in national interest.

He pointed out that Pakistan “inherited” the problem of FATF Grey-listing from the previous government.

However, he said, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan did its best to get Pakistan out of the Grey list.

The foreign minister said the world was acknowledging Pakistan’s efforts in implementation of the FATF Action Plan.

The steps taken by Pakistan included promulgation of strict laws against money laundering, and freezing the assets and filing of cases against banned organizations.

Resultantly, the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering improved Pakistan’s rating against money laundering and terror financing.

Also, the Pakistan European Union Joint Commission welcomed Pakistan’s progress in implementation of FATF points.