UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Ambassador Masood Khan has said that non-state actors should not be allowed to dictate bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Non-state actors should not be allowed to dictate Pak-Afghan bilateral relations,” he said while speaking at a high level debate at the UN Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.
“Our relationship must be based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and marked by trust and cooperation,” he added.
The Pakistani envoy said that Pakistan and Afghanistan should jointly counter the threats of terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime with strong common resolve.
The ambassador said that the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s recent visit to Islamabad and talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif marked a “holistic renewal of our relationship”.
In her weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam also termed the recent visit of Afghan president as not just symbolically but in substance success.
“Pakistan wants healthy and cordial relations with Afghanistan for peace and stability in the region,” the spokesperson said.
Masood Khan further said that Pakistan supported Afghanistan’s electoral process through enhancing security on their shared border.
The envoy also envisaged collaboration with Afghanistan on reconstruction, border security and defence, capacity building, education and parliamentary exchanges.
