Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi Thursday said that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan stakeholders bore the responsibility to make the intra-Afghan dialogue a success as Pakistan has already done what it could do to facilitate the peace process.
Addressing the participants of Pak, Afghan Media Conclave held in Islamabad under the aegis of Pak-Afghan Youth Forum here at the PNCA, Shehryar Afridi said that Pakistan believed in non-interference in the affairs of Afghanistan and it fully believed in the sovereignty of Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan is ready to provide training of reporting in the conflict zone which may greatly add to the capacity-building of Afghan journalists and media workers.
He said that Pakistan did not believe in the so-called strategic depth into Afghanistan and rather it believed that Afghan peoples must resolve their issues. He said that Pakistan has been supporting the peace process in Afghanistan.
Shehryar Khan Afridi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan shared with the Afghan media, and the entire information would be shared with the Afghan security team. He said that Pakistan had contributed hugely to the development of war-torn Afghanistan.
Ghani’s former government had over a dozen people who were born and bred in Pakistan, he saind, adding that over a thousand Afghans born in Pakistan were now involved in the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
He said most of the Afghan cricketers had got all training and grooming in Pakistan and top Pakistani cricketers trained them including Rashid Latif, Inzamam-ul-Haq and others.
Afridi said that in modern history, Pakistan had been hosting millions of Afghan refugees and is still hosting 3.5 million Afghans even today.
“Pakistan is the only nation in the world who mainstreamed 68 per cent Afghan refugees per the UN recommendations and they are living outside camps and enjoying all facilities enjoyed by Pakistani citizens,” he added.
He said that PM Khan opened air space for Afghan trade, despite Pakistan’s trade blockade with India. He said a peaceful Afghanistan is a prerequisite to peace in Pakistan. “The enemy wants to keep our region destabilised and for the same purpose, they are fueling misunderstandings between the two sister states,” he added.
Pakistanis are aware that the people of Afghanistan are passing through hard times as they have greatly suffered due to the menace of terrorism, he explained.
Addressing the audience, President of Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) Ambassador Nadeen Riaz said that media has a role to play in removing misunderstandings between the two neighbours who have a shared history of friendship and sacrifice, and media can bridge misunderstandings between the two.
He said that the media has a responsibility to tell the world how Pakistan had contributed to the Afghan peace process, as it is the best service to reduce tensions and build bridges between the two neighbouring countries.
