FM Qureshi urges Biden administration to 'not reverse' Afghan peace process.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the Biden administration to "persevere" with the Afghan peace deal which was signed in Doha between the United States and Taliban last year and "not reverse things".

The foreign minister made the remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera that was published on Thursday. He said that Joe Biden, who was sworn in as America's president on Wednesday, "should realise there is an opportunity in Afghanistan".

'Push them forward, because, after a long time, we have started moving in the right direction," Qureshi said.

Pakistan has played the role of mediator during the peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and the US, which led to a landmark deal signed in Doha in February last year. According to a joint statement released by the parties at the time, a full withdrawal of all US and coalition forces would occur within 14 months of the deal getting signed, if the Taliban hold up their end of the agreement.

The US had committed to reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing the deal, and working with its allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over the same period. Currently, there are 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan.

However, Biden's nominee for state secretary, Anthony Blinken, hinted earlier this week that an increase in violence in Afghanistan may lead to US retaining some of it troops.

"We want to retain some capacity to deal with any resurgence of terrorism, which is what brought us there in the first place," Blinken said in his confirmation hearing. 'We have to look carefully at what has actually been negotiated. I haven't been privy to it yet."

US President Biden has stated that while he would reduce the number of combat troops in Afghanistan, he would not withdraw US military presence.

Last year, during a debate between Democratic presidential candidates, Biden had said: "We can prevent the United States from being the victim of terror coming out of Afghanistan by providing for bases - insist the Pakistanis provide bases for us to air lift from and to move against what we know."

Biden's nominee for defence secretary Gen Lloyd J Austin, meanwhile, identified Pakistan as an "essential partner" in the Afghan peace process during his confirmation hearing earlier this week.

'We are concerned because we feel violence can vitiate the climate,' Qureshi said in his interview with Al Jazeera yesterday. 'Pakistan has...