The Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Mr. Asad Qaiser held a luncheon today in honor of visiting Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi along with a high-level delegation including Acting Ministers for Industry & Commerce as well as Finance and Deputy Minister of Aviation. A number of members of the federal cabinet and leaders from major political parties were also in attendance.

The luncheon was subsequent by a bilateral meeting in which various matters of mutual interest were discussed. The acting Afghan foreign minister stated in his remarks that peace and stability have finally returned to Afghanistan. He thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghans for over 40 years. He said that the current regime had given a general amnesty to all those who served with the last government. “We have even given guards for the protection of political leaders of President Ashraf Ghani’s regime”, stated Mr. Amir Khan Muttaqi. He also remarked that over 500,000 members of the civil services of President Ashraf Ghani’s regime were also given amnesty and they serving the people of Afghanistan under the current dispensation. Over 200,000 of them are teachers, whose salaries could not be given due to the asset freezes and blockade of financial channels. He stated that it is seriously impacting Afghan state’s ability to run the public school system. At a time when the international community is really concerned about the fundamental human rights’ situation in Afghanistan, it is imperative that the Afghan government be allowed to access its assets abroad so as to provide basic education and health services to the general populace.

He further informed the audience that the current Afghan government has representation from all ethnicities whether they are Tajiks, Uzbeks or others. He stated that the government has established its writ over every foot of the Afghan territory. Now the challenge is to bring prosperity through economic progress to all the peoples of Afghanistan. He also underlined the importance of regional connectivity for shared prosperity of the region and offered his government’s utmost cooperation for the realization of this vision.
Leaders from various political parties of Pakistan highlighted the need for joint action against terrorism and welcomed the declaration by Afghanistan that its soil will not be used for terrorism against any country in the world. They underscored the age-old fraternal relations between peoples of both countries, the common historical heritage and stressed the importance of respect for each other’s territorial sovereignty. Hope was expressed that stability in Afghanistan would contribute to greater regional trade especially between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asian states. Members of Parliament also welcomed Afghanistan’s decision to allow all working women to carry on with their jobs. It was lamented that the effect of asset freeze would increase the incidence of poverty in Afghanistan and hoped that the international community would come together to address the humanitarian challenges of the Afghan people especially by allowing the Afghan state to access its assets abroad. The meeting ended with assurances from both sides for continued cooperation.