ISLAMABAD: Pakistan says a stable and prosperous Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan.
This was reiterated at a high-level meeting co-chaired by Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, and Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Lt General Rtd Abdul Qadir Baloch here at Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.
The meeting decided that Pakistan will approach Afghanistan on the political and diplomatic level to pursue and devise modalities for implementation of early return of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.
It was decided to engage Afghanistan and UNHCR immediately and devise concrete steps to ensure early sustained return of refugees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will approach the government of Afghanistan bilaterally on the political and diplomatic level where as the Ministry of SAFRON will engage UNHCR and Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) Afghanistan to pursue and devise modalities for implementation of early return.
The meeting welcomed the announcement of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees during his recent visit to Pakistan regarding enhancing the repatriation grant from 200 US $ to 400 US $ per individual for registered Afghan returnees.
It was reiterated that a stable, prosperous and peaceful Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan and therefore Pakistan will continue to support Afghanistan in its pursuit of peace as well as reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
In this respect as a gesture of goodwill on the directive of the Prime Minister, the Government of Pakistan will offer free wheat to Afghan returnees in the newly established settlements inside Afghanistan for a period of three years.