Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab call on Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad (03.09.21)
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Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab on Friday said beyond the matter of recognizing the Taliban government in Afghanistan, his country would continue to extend humanitarian assistance to its people.
Foreign Secretary Raab, who also visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan border at Torkham to see on-ground situation, underlined the UK’s commitment to help those fleeing Afghanistan including by supporting neighbouring countries.
“The UK has announced a doubling of aid to Afghanistan to £286 million, and has released the first tranche of £30m of that to support Afghanistan’s regional neighbours, including Pakistan,” he said.
Raab mentioned that some of the Taliban were “positive at the level of words”, however stressed that “we need to test them first”.
He said the basis for the UK-Pakistan relationship was very strong and expressed the desire of his country to take it to the next level.
“We also have a very clear and shared interest in the future of Afghanistan, he said.
He said Britain would increase development funds for the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to ensure helping out the Afghan people crossing over the borders.
To a question on keeping Pakistan in the ‘red list’ banning travel, he said he could totally understand the impact of the decision on the Pakistani and British-Pakistani nationals.
He commended the efforts of the government of Pakistan in addressing the coronavirus situation, however stressed that the UK’s decision was “in shared interest amid domestic and global challenges”.
Raab said his discussions with FM Qureshi focused on commonalities of interest and finding out the ways to further strengthen ties in diverse areas.
To a question on the human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said the UK would encourage both Indian and Pakistan to maintain a positive and constructive dialogue to resolve the issue.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan and the UK enjoyed close collaboration in various areas of bilateral interest.
To a question if Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban would be conditional, he said as a neighbour, the country had no other choice but to coexist with Afghanistan.
“So our approach has to be somewhat different and realistic [towards a government in Afghanistan],” he said.
Qureshi said whatever the conclusion of Doha talks would be, Pakistan had ‘no favourites’ in Afghanistan.
He said Afghanistan had the population comprising different ethnicities, adding that it was in the interest of the country to adopt an inclusive approach.
“We will engage with a government in Afghanistan that has the backing of its people. We want to help the people of Afghanistan,” he said.
He said if Afghanistan was left unattended, the country could fall victim to civil war.
Qureshi said during the meeting, he apprised the British State Secretary the treatment meted out to the body of late Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani denying a decent funeral for him.
He said India could not curb the sentiments of Kashmiri people by resorting to such aggressive tactics.
پاکستان اور برطانیہ نے دو طرفہ تعلقات اور مختلف شعبوں میں تعاون بڑھانے پر اتفاق کیا ہے، وزیر خارجہ شاہ محمود قریشی نے کہا ہے کہ افغانستان میں مربوط نظام حکومت کے حامی ہیں، افغانستان میں کوئی فریق پسندیدہ نہیں ہے، افغانستان میں عوامی حمایت پربننےوالی حکومت سے تعاون کریں گے، کشمیر میں انسانی حقوق کی خلاف ورزی پربرطانیہ خاموش نہیں بیٹھے گا جبکہ برطانوی وزیر خارجہ ڈومینک راب نے کہا ہے کہ خطے میں پاکستان کا کردار انتہائی اہمیت کا حامل ہے، افغانستان میں امن و استحکام کے خواہاں ہیں ،امید کرتے ہیں کہ طالبان افغانستان میں امن و استحکام لائیں گے ، افغانستان کی انسانی ہمدردی کی بنیاد پر امداد جاری رکھیں گے ۔
جمعہ کو یہاں وزیرخارجہ مخدوم شاہ محمود قریشی اور برطانوی وزیر خارجہ ڈومینک راب کے درمیان ملاقات کے بعد مشترکہ پریس کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے وزیر خارجہ شاہ محمود قریشی نے کہا کہ افغانستان سےمتعلق پیش گوئیاں اور اندازے غلط ثابت ہوئے،میرا 16 اور 27 اگست کو برطانوی وزیر خارجہ کے ساتھ رابطہ ہواتھا،برطانوی وزیرخارجہ کو دورہ پاکستان پر خوش آمدید کہتے ہیں ۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ برطانوی وزیر خارجہ سے افغانستان کی تازہ صورتحال سمیت دوطرفہ تعلقات پر بات ہوئی، افغانستان کو تنہا چھوڑا گیا تو خانہ جنگی جیسےبحران کےخطرات ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ افغانستان میں مربوط نظام حکومت کے حامی ہیں، افغانستان میں کوئی فریق پسندیدہ نہیں ہے، افغانستان میں عوامی حمایت پربننےوالی حکومت سے تعاون کریں گے، پاکستان اورافغانستان کےدرمیان تعلقات کو سمجھنےکی ضرورت ہے۔ انہوں نے برطانوی وزیرخارجہ کو بتایا کہ افغان معاملے پر کیسے آگے بڑھ سکتے ہیں،برطانیہ اورپاکستان کی خواہش ہے کہ افغانستان میں امن واستحکام آئے۔
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