Pakistan Foreign Minister says now decisions making by the cabinet after detailed deliberation
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said that cooperation with the US in counter-terrorism has already ended and there is no new deal has reached with Washington to use Pakistan airspace against any group in Afghanistan.
During a joint news conference with visiting Danish Foreign Minister in Islamabad, Qureshi said that now all decisions are taking by the cabinet after a detailed deliberation.
Responding to a question about the US top military General’s recent statement about the use of Pakistan airspace against Al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Foreign Minister said he was talking about past cooperation.
“I believe there was a discussion in which was mentioned of the usefulness of the air corridor, provided by Pakistan in the past and I believe he was mentioned that we are in talks with Pakistan on the continuation of cooperation in that, in the days ahead [US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan],”
“Obviously decisions taking by the cabinet after due deliberation, looking at all the pros and cons of Pakistan in the interest of Pakistan’s security, national security, regional stability,” he explained.
Qureshi said he also shared his country’s perspective on the Afghanistan situation and regional security with the visiting Foreign Minister and the two sides agreed to work for peace in the region.
He also thanked his Danish counterpart for support on GSP Plus status for Pakistan and urged to help his country in getting out from the FATF grey list.
The two sides also agreed to make joint efforts to further strengthen the bilateral relationship in diverse fields, including energy and trade.
In his party, Denmark’s top diplomat Jeppe Kofod said that Denmark and Pakistan have a long and strong bilateral relationship and they plan to strengthen it further in areas of trade and energy.
He said ‘Pakistan’ – an important country to security and stability in the region and Islamabad played a responsible role for peace in the region, particularly in Afghanistan.
Responding to a question he said his country has so far not decided to recognize the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, however, they will continue to help the Afghan people.
The Danish Foreign Minister thanked Pakistan for its support in the evacuation of foreigners from Kabul.
“We are not going to recognize the Taliban government. What we see now in Afghanistan is a very serious situation,” Danish Foreign Minister said.
“We have just this year in 2021 allocated 80 million US dollars for humanitarian help and relief to the people of Afghanistan. And we will continue to engage,” he added
The Danish Foreign Minister thanked Pakistan for its support in the evacuation of foreigners from Kabul.
