NEW DELHI (Staff Report) – Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry has arrived in New Delhi to represent Pakistan at 6th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process meeting.
Apart from attending the meeting, Aizaz Chaudhry is expected to hold meetings with Indian Afghan counterparts. Pakistan’s bilateral ties with both countries will be taken up in the meetings.
In an interview prior to his departure to India, he said that Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding issues including Kashmir with India through talks. Pakistan is sincere in its efforts to bring peace to the war-ravaged Afghanistan as peace in Afghanistan is vital for peace in the region, he added.
About proposed Afghan peace process, the Foreign Secretary said that Pakistan wants to take the Afghan peace and reconciliation process forward and resolve issues through negotiations.
He called on all parties and Afghan insurgent groups to come forward and work unitedly for peace in Afghanistan.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbours. This region-led dialogue was launched in November 2011 in Turkey.
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyz, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and United Arab Emirates are among the member states of this forum.
At the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process meeting, the delegations of all member states and several observer countries will discuss the regional situation in general and Afghanistan in particular. A joint communique will be issued at the end.
Pakistan hosted fifth meeting of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process in December last year. It was co-chaired by Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs.
The meeting had led to major breakthroughs in Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan and India.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States and China announced quadrilateral meeting to cater Afghan-led peace talks with Taliban while India and Pakistan both agreed to resume bilateral dialogue to discuss all outstanding issues including Kashmir.
