The Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi chaired second meeting of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs at the Foreign Ministry today.
The Advisory Council discussed range of issues related to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy including efforts to support peace in Afghanistan and ways to strengthen engagement with Pakistan’s overseas diaspora.
The Foreign Minister apprised the Advisory Council on his recent visit to the United Kingdom and reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to extend all possible diplomatic, moral and political support to Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Discussing Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister emphasized that Pakistan has always believed that lasting peace in Afghanistan can only be achieved through a politically negotiated process and that there is no military solution of the conflict. He said that an overwhelming global consensus on the same point had now validated Pakistan’s longstanding position. The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan along with other regional and international partners was playing its role in supporting the peace process in Afghanistan in good faith and as a shared responsibility.
Speaking on Government’s efforts to engage Pakistani diaspora, the Foreign Minister underlined that the government was committed to adopt a robust and innovative approach to engage all segments of overseas Pakistanis. The Foreign Minister informed the Council that as instructed by the Prime Minister, Pakistan Missions abroad had been directed to facilitate Pakistani diaspora to the maximum.
The Advisory Council members discussed various aspects of diaspora engagement including through tourism, trade and investment, legal assistance and education etc. In this regard, the Council decided to develop concrete actionable measures.
Next meeting of the Council will be held in March.
Islamabad
11 February 2019
