Qureshi to visit regional countries

Islamabad: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, accompanied by the Foreign Secretary and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is leaving for a four-nation tour on Monday as part of the government’s policy of outreach in the neighbourhood. The Foreign Minister will visit Afghanistan, Iran, China and Russia from December 24-26, 2018. During the visit, Foreign Minister will discuss Pakistan’s bilateral relations with the senior leadership of these countries, to strengthen cooperation in various areas. Implementing the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan is eager to strengthen ties with neighbours and regional partners. Such cooperation is the key to unleashing Pakistan’s considerable potential and expanding mutually beneficial economic cooperation and development, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Besides detailed exchange of views on important areas of bilateral cooperation, views will also be exchanged on the fast changing regional and international environment. Recent developments concerning peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan would also be discussed during these meetings. Pakistan has always maintained that the solution to the conflict in Afghanistan lies in an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. International community’s recent consensus to adopt this as the guiding principle to resolve the 40-years old Afghan conflict, vindicates Pakistan’s long held view. The visit is part of promoting various initiatives and ideas for regional cooperation especially in promoting economic and people-to-people linkages.