Pakistan clarifies Islamic State remarks

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has issued a clarification over Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's earlier statement in which he had said it is the Afghan government's responsibility to monitor and keep Islamic State (IS) terrorists in the country in check. MoFA spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said certain sections of the media had "have misquoted and twisted" Qureshi's remarks on the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process.

Chaudhri clarified that the Foreign Minister had "clearly spoken" about the consensus among the international community, the regional players and the Afghans themselves "against the menace of terrorism", News Pakistan reported. "His remarks cannot be in anyway be misconstrued as advocacy for a particular side in the Afghan conflict.

"We have repeatedly stated that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan. We see all sides in the conflict as Afghans who need to decide about their future themselves. We will continue to play a constructive facilitation role in the Afghan peace process," he added. (IANS)

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