ISLAMABAD: National Assembly will on Wednesday host the inaugural meeting of Executive Committee of Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentary Friendship Group.
The meeting will be attended by key ministers of the cabinet, parliamentarians, advisors and special assistants to the prime minister, Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan and relevant federal secretaries.
The meeting will seek to complement the democratic vision of the house to promote parliamentary role in deepening bilateral relationship with Afghanistan.
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qasire has taken a number of steps for cementing relations with parliaments of other countries. Pak-Afghan parliamentary friendship group was first established in the National Assembly on March 24, 2005.
The group has remained active in terms of parliamentary interactions, cooperation on parliamentary businesses and maintenance of parliamentary oversight of the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Yesterday, the third round of China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue was held via video link. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nabi co-chaired the dialogue.
The consensus reached during the 3rd round of China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue held via video link. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab co-chaired the dialogue.
The three sides urged for an orderly, responsible and condition-based withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan to avoid potential terrorist resurgence. They reaffirmed commitment to strengthening communication and enhancing mutual trust under the trilateral cooperation mechanism.
They agreed to further the cooperation against coronavirus pandemic. The participants called on the international community to jointly prevent discrimination and stigma, support the World Health Organisation’s leading role in coordinating global COVID-19 response, promote international cooperation on prevention and control and safeguard public health security in the region and beyond.
China and Pakistan appreciated efforts by the Afghanistan government and relevant parties in expediting the exchange of prisoners to pave way for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations and called for violence reduction and humanitarian ceasefire.
China and Pakistan also expressed the determination to enhance cooperation with the Afghan government for early restoration of peace and stability in the war-torn country.
Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to further strengthen dialogue and work for continuous improvement of bilateral relations The Chinese side reaffirmed to play a constructive role in improving Afghanistan-Pakistan relations.
The three sides expressed readiness to carry out trilateral practical cooperation in flexible manners and keep exploring new fields of cooperation, with a view to accumulating outcomes for the next round of dialogue.
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