Pakistan Supports Afghan Led -Afghan Owned Peace Process: NA Speaker

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2020 ) :Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser Sunday said that Pakistan fully supported an Afghan led-Afghan owned peace initiative.

He said that a peaceful Afghanistan was in the best interest of Pakistan and the region, said a press release issued here.

He opined that people of Afghanistan and Pakistan regardless of ethnicities were bound together by everlasting cultural, religious and historic affinities.

The speaker said that visit of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation to Pakistan would be a milestone in cementing Pak-Afghan relations.

He said that regular engagement at political and functionaries level had foiled foreign attempts to disrupt the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said that parliamentary interaction would further augment the those relations. Referring to the foreign aggression on Afghanistan three decades ago, the speaker said that Pakistani wholeheartedly welcomed their afghan brethren.

He said that with the advent of peace in Afghanistan, the government of Pakistan would further facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland. Responding to a question, the speaker said that he was a proponent of bringing changes in the naturalization laws for giving national status to Afghans born and bred in Pakistan.

He said that he would support a parliamentary discourse in that regard.

Referring to Pak-Afghan trade, the speaker said that the trading communities on both sides could play a pivotal role to boost their national economies.

He said that being President of the Pak-Afghan Parliamentary Friendship Group, he had constituted task forces of the Group to address the Pak-Afghan border entry and issues confronted by traders at border.

He said that the recommendations had been sent to the government and almost 80% percent of the recommendations had been implemented. The speaker said that proposed changes in Pak-Afghan visa policy would soon be approved by the Federal cabinet.