PESHAWAR, June 26: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health and Information Shaukat Ali Yousafzai has said that the government will take steps to address the problems being faced by Afghan refugees in the province.

He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan being two Islamic brotherly countries were connected through Islamic and cultural ties.

“We want a peaceful Afghanistan as a peaceful Afghanistan guarantees a peaceful Pakistan,” he told Afghan Consul General Syed Mohammad Ibrahim Khan during a meeting here on Wednesday.

The minister said that Afghanistan had a great importance in regard to development and economic strength of Pakistan. Afghanistan was the only way of access to Central Asia, he added.

Cultural Attaché of Afghan Consulate Parvin Malal was also present on the occasion. The Afghan consul general informed the minister about the problems of Afghan refugees settled in Pakistan.

Mr Yousafzai said that Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular, despite weak economy and infrastructure, accommodated 3,000,000 Afghan refugees and helped them wholeheartedly.

He said that they would take steps to address the grievances and problems of Afghan refugees and contact federal government in that regard.

The minister said that they wanted honourable return of their Afghan brethren to their homeland. He said that they would extend assistance in that regard. Efforts would be made to release innocent Afghans, if they were detained in Pakistan, he added.

Mr Yousafzai said that collective efforts were needed to rehabilitate confidence between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that they wanted to have friendly ties with all their neighbours including Afghanistan.

The minister said that there should be no foreign interference in any country. He said that one per cent tax on Afghan Transit Trade had been enforced just to stop smuggling of food stuff from the province and regularise the trade. Mr Yousafzai said that they wished that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should not face scarcity of food stuff as they did in the past.

To bring the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan closer, exchange of journalists and cultural delegations would be ensured, he said, adding cultural exhibitions would also be arranged in Afghanistan and Pakistan.