Saturday April 23, 2016
Islamabad (BNA) The Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed that Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah had postponed his trip to Pakistan in the wake of Tuesday’s massive attack in Kabul which Islamabad strongly condemned.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had extended an invitation to Dr. Abdullah for a visit to Pakistan,” said Nafees Zakaria, the Foreign Office spokesperson during his weekly briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. He confirmed that the visit, scheduled for May 2-3, had been postponed. “New dates would be worked out through diplomatic channels.” “Earlier, he condemned the suicide bomb and gun attack on Afghanistan’s National Security Services building in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday. The attack killed at least 64 people and injured over 350 people. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001,” he said, adding that Pakistan was engaged in sincere and consistent efforts to facilitate the Afghan peace process. “We believe that violence and bloodshed is not the way to achieve peace,” Zakaria said, adding that Pakistan too was engaged in the fight against terrorism. Asked about the next meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), which has been charting a path for talks with insurgent groups in Afghanistan, Zakaria said that the four countries involved will meet when they are ready to do so.
