Pakistan to raise profile of relations with Afghanistan

Foreign Secretary, Jalil Abbas Jilani, said Friday that Pakistan has continuously endeavored to raise the profile of its relations with Afghanistan, at both bilateral and multilateral forums.

A peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan is in our vital national interest,” he told the third “Heart of Asia” Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, inaugurated the Conference, which was co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Erlan Idrissov.

The Foreign Secretary reiterated that Pakistan is committed to provide its fullest cooperation to Afghanistan to help it steer through the transition period and beyond, the Foreign Ministry said.

He underlined that several developments have taken place since the last Ministerial in Kabul in June, 2012. The Foreign Secretary said that six clusters of CBMs that have been identified are now ready for implementation. He said this was a manifestation of result oriented cooperation to promote security and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.

Speaking on the occasion he conveyed his deep appreciation and thanks to the Government of Kazakhstan for hosting this Ministerial Conference.

The Foreign Secretary said that Pakistan attaches great importance to the Heart of Asia Initiative. He said this is the reason that we have joined all the six Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) under this process. Pakistan together with Kazakhstan has a lead role in Disaster Management CBM.

He reported to the Ministerial Conference about the draft implementation plan of the Disaster Management CBM, prepared jointly with Kazakhstan. The CBM was later adopted by the Ministerial Conference along with other CBMs.

The Foreign Secretary hoped that the CBMs adopted during the Almaty Ministerial Conference would strengthen concrete cooperation in various fields among the members of the Heart of Asia Process.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=40020

Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 26 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.