Daily Times

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reached Tehran to participate in a ministerial meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries marked on Wednesday.

FM Qureshi is on a two-day official visit to Iran with a delegation. Upon his arrival in Tehran, he was welcomed by Pakistan’s diplomat in Iran, Rahim Hayat Qureshi, and senior officials of the foreign ministry at Imam Khomeini International Airport.

During the visit, Qureshi will also call on his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdollahian to talk about matters of mutual interests, including regional security. He will also interact with media representatives and present Pakistan’s views on important regional and global issues.

Multilateral forum

On the second meeting of the multilateral forum hosted by Iran, FM Qureshi will present Pakistan’s position on Afghanistan following the takeover of Kabul by the Afghan Taliban.

The first meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries was hosted by Pakistan at the start of September this year. The forum comprised China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Qureshi had called for the international community to help in preventing a humanitarian crisis and economic meltdown in Afghanistan, which were key priorities in the wake of recent developments in the country.

However, the West is cautious in its approach; it has urged the Taliban to fulfill its promises of inclusive government and ensuring the basic rights of women and minorities.