The spokesperson said that Pakistan's delegation during the peace talks emphasised the need for a negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict to achieve the objective of peace and stability in the region. It was first meeting of the Moscow Format with participation of Afghan High Peace Council representatives and Afghan Taliban delegation from its Qatar political office.
India and the United States were present in the meeting as observers. Moscow Format was initiated in December 2016. Its membership gradually increased to eleven last year. "It signifies a growing consensus among regional countries for jointly promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan," he said, adding that Pakistan delegation highlighted the brotherly sentiments of the people of Pakistan for their brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.
Pakistan delegation noted that the phrase "Afghan-owned, Afghan-led" peace process, coined by Pakistan several years ago, has now been adopted as an international guiding principle in charting the collective way forward to achieving peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, he said.
To a question, he said that the government has been constantly in touch with the US on the issue of Dr Aafia Siddiqui who is serving a jail term in the United States.
"Pakistan's Consul General in Houston has met Dr Aafia 12 times," he said, adding that the Pakistani government is in contact with the US government on the matter. The issue of legal and human rights of Dr Aafia has also been regularly raised with the US officials. Last time, the matter was raised with Ambassador Alice G Wells on November 06, 2018, he said.
To a question, the spokesperson strongly condemned the unabated Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir, martyring four more Kashmiri youth in fresh acts of state terrorism in different parts of the held valley. He lamented that Dukhtaran-e-Millat Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi is languishing in the Tihar Jail without availing any legal cover and assistance.
The spokesperson said that repatriation process of Afghan refugees has been suspended due to the arrival of winter season in both the countries, adding that the process shall be resumed in March at the arrival of spring. The Foreign Office spokesperson also said that Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul is in touch with the Afghan authorities in connection with the murder of Superintendent of Police Tahir Khan Dawar. He said that Pakistan embassy has also lodged a protest with the Afghan authorities over the delay in shifting the body to Pakistan.