Daily Times

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday dismissed that Pakistan would allow any military bases on its soil in the wake of withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan.

“We will not allow boots on ground or allow military bases,” he said while addressing a press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. He said that Pakistan stands with Afghanistan in its efforts for peace, prosperity, reconciliation and categorically stated that it did not side with any particular stakeholder.

“We will remain be partners in peace with Afghanistan and will continue to play our role as a facilitator,” he said, a political solution through negotiations was in the interest of Afghanistan. He welcomed the recent ceasefire between the Afghan government and Taliban and, saying that the positive development would enable a conducive environment towards negotiations.

CONDEMNS ISRAELI ATTACKS

The foreign minister assured the Afghan government and people that Pakistan wanted a strong and stable Afghanistan and will not interfere in their internal matters. On situation of Palestine, he strongly condemned the Israeli attacks on innocent worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque and called upon the international community to get mobilized to diffuse the conflict.

Regarding the prime minister’s recent criticism on foreign missions, he said that the purpose was to bring improvement and avoid negligence aimed at facilitating the overseas Pakistanis. However, he pointed out that it was unnecessary to make public an in-house meeting as several officials, though worked at the embassies were reporting to their own ministries and not Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To a question, the foreign minister vowed to never let down the morale of diplomats. to another question, he said that a task force headed by Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sohail Mahmood had been established and input asked from the missions abroad.