War does not bring anything good: FM on Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict
'We are not saying anything in public, but we are trying to make our friends understand that such a war is not good for anyone,' says Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman.
Amid the ongoing fighting between two Saarc countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh has decided not to make any public comments but stressed that such a war does not bring anything good.
"It is an unfortunate matter. We are not saying anything in public, but we are trying to make our friends understand that such a war is not good for anyone," Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport upon his return from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia early today (28 February).
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kabir was also present at the media briefing.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The Associated Press (AP) says Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged cross-border attacks overnight in a dramatic escalation of tensions that led Pakistan's defence minister to say yesterday that the two countries are in a state of "open war."
Afghanistan launched an attack on Pakistan late on Thursday, saying it was in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas on Sunday. Pakistan then carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early on Friday, saying it targeted military installations.
On the sidelines of the extraordinary ministerial session of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, Khalilur held bilateral talks with the foreign minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar; foreign minister of the Gambia, Sering Modou Njie; foreign minister of Palestine, Dr Varsen Ohanes Vartan Aghabekian; deputy foreign minister of Turkey, Ambassador Musa Kulaklikaya; and also the vice minister of foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia, Waleed A Elkhereiji, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday.
The foreign ministers of Bangladesh and Pakistan reaffirmed their commitment to deepening ties and agreed to work closely together to promote 'peace, stability and shared prosperity' in the region, according to the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Khalilur, during his recent courtesy meeting with Saarc Secretary General Md Golam Sarwar on 24 February, reiterated Bangladesh's conviction in abiding commitment to the principles enshrined in the Saarc Charter, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs and mutual benefit of the peoples of member states.
