Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, met in Tehran on Monday to hold talks on bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments.
According to a press release by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the top diplomats underscored the importance of making efforts to promote “stability, security and constructive convergence” in the region, particularly in Afghanistan, and underlined the need for increased cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad to help restore peace to the crisis-hit region.
The discussions on Afghanistan came at a critical time, with high-stakes presidential elections due in April and talks between US special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Taliban representatives over a possible peace deal expected to continue in January following three meetings this year.
Qureshi had paid a visit to Afghanistan’s capital earlier in the day to hold talks with Afghan officials.
According to a statement by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, Qureshi in a meeting with his Afghan counterpart noted that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan. It stressed regional cooperation to ensure the success of the ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan.
