Daily Times

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday said Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral cooperation can bring peace in Afghanistan and the region, adding that the mutual collaboration will also deepen connectivity, development and economic prosperity.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by Afghan refugee children at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign minister said Pakistan and Afghanistan both suffered a lot due to the menace of terrorism, adding that both countries need to fight the menace jointly.

Qureshi highlighted the generous hospitality extended by the people of Pakistan to their Afghan brothers and sister during the last four decades. “At any given point of time during these years, on average over three million Afghans have been living in Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan ensured education facilities to the Afghan refugees at par with its own citizens. “We will continue to invest in the education of the refugee children as it is the real investment for a prosperous future of Afghanistan,” he vowed.

On the occasion, Ambassador of China in Pakistan Yao Jing appreciated Pakistan’s continued hospitality to millions of Afghan refugees and expressed his country’s desire to work for expanding trilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interests.

Afghan charge d’affaires thanked Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees for almost four decades and stated that the trilateral cooperation will contribute towards peace and stability in the war-torn country. Later, books, school bags, stationary and items of winter clothing were also distributed among 200 Afghan refugee children.

Published in Daily Times, December 6^th 2018.