Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani urged the international community on Wednesday to devise a clear roadmap on Afghanistan to ensure peace and stability in the region and the world.
At a meeting with UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Mark Philip Sedwill, the prime minister hoped that the time before Bonn Conference be utilised to the maximum to draw a strategy that ensures peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan after possible withdrawal of the ISAF forces in 2014.
He said Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan was very clear as it wanted a “stable, peaceful and prosperous” Afghanistan through a smooth transition.
Gilani stressed Pakistan believed in a policy of non-interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and believed that peace was vital for the stability of the entire region.
He said Pakistan was trying to fight the menace of terrorism despite heavy odds but needed international support to sustain its commitment.
The prime minister said a two-tier joint commission on reconciliation had been set up by Pakistan and Afghanistan. The first tier of the commission led by the chief executives of two countries was held in Islamabad, while the first meeting of the Joint Commission’s second tier level was held in Kabul on June 29 this year.
He added that Pakistan had been working with the Afghan leadership to promote reconciliation through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
He expressed confidence that the appointment of Mark Sedwill as UK’s special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan would be helpful in promoting peace in the region.
Mark Sedwill apprised the prime minister about the working of his office regarding the matters relating to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said efforts would be made by international community to focus on stability and peace in Afghanistan.
‘Pakistan seeks non-interference policy on Afghanistan’
