\tISLAMABAD(National Times) :Brushing aside the criticism of Pakistan for situation in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said that Pakistan wanted to be a partner in peace and could be the most trusted interlocutor in the evolving situation.
\n\u201cListen to Pakistan. Stop scapegoating Pakistan. Pakistan wants to a partner in peace. Pakistan can be the most trusted interlocutor in this evolving situation,\u201d the foreign minister said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.
\nHe said Pakistan wanted an inclusive government in Afghanistan which respected human rights though the initial statements from leadership indicated a new approach.
\nThe foreign minister said Pakistan had been a facilitator of peace which had been acknowledged internationally too.
\nQureshi said Pakistan had been calling to keep the negotiation process in tandem with the date of withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Despite the fact that it was not consulted before giving the date of withdrawal, Pakistan remained positive.
\nHe said currently Pakistan was engaged in evacuation which was the immediate challenge for the international community. Pakistan embassy in Kabul is working round the clock with planes flying into Kabul and getting people out including diplomatic personnel and international organizations.
\n\u201cAre we being acknowledged? No. We are not even being mentioned in the list of countries that are helping evacuate people,\u201d he commented.
\nTo a question, he said Pakistan had been blamed enough and recalled the \u201cmost absurd statement\u201d of Ashraf Ghani alleging the infiltration of 10,000 terrorists despite even before the withdrawal of troops from there.
\nQureshi said Pakistan was part if international coalition for peace and was engaged with not only Taliban but entire Afghan leadership as the country wanted forward looking and see a peaceful Afghanistan which would lead to achieve Pakistan\u2019s goal of regional connectivity.
\nThe foreign minister said Pakistan was a victim of war on terror.
\n\u201cWe have 80,000 casualties. We had economic loss of over $150 billion. We had to deal with two million internally displaced people. We are hosting over three million Afghan refugees the world has forgotten. And we are not responsible for 9\/11. There was not Pakistan involved,\u201d he said
\nHe said Pakistan was asked to do more when it engaged with the international community with sincerity.
\n\u201cWe were doubted. We were questioned. We were telling the world that the kind of government imposed in Afghanistan does not enjoy political support. There is corruption. There is misgovernance. Nobody listened,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD(National Times) :Brushing aside the criticism of Pakistan for situation in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said that Pakistan wanted to be a partner in peace and could be the most trusted interlocutor in the evolving situation. \u201cListen to Pakistan. Stop scapegoating Pakistan. Pakistan wants to a partner in peace. Pakistan can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n