“Peace and reconciliation is the only way forward to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan. There will be challenges like the one you are referring to, but we need patience and perseverance in the larger interest of peace in Afghanistan,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at his weekly media briefing on Thursday.

He was commenting on closure of the Doha office by the Taliban to protest against what they call “broken promises” about the name and use of flag at the office opened last month for serving as their political address. The setting up of the office was thought as the best chance to achieve peace in the over a decade-long war.

Row over the name — Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — and raising of flag started immediately after the opening ceremony of the office. President Karzai protested over the controversial signs and they were removed by Qatari officials.

The Taliban decided to close the office after their leadership deliberated for about a month over the issue. During this period lot of behind-the-scenes activities took place to salvage the troubled process.

The United States is hopeful that the temporary snag in the bumpy road to peace would be overcome soon.

The FO spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s official stance that all stakeholders in the Afghan peace process should engage constructively.

“Pakistan wants to see peace and stability in Afghanistan. We are sincere in our approach and our efforts, and we hope that our sincerity will be reciprocated. Our leadership, all state institutions and the people of Pakistan want to see a united, prosperous and stable Afghanistan.”

He maintained that Pakistan observed restraint despite provocations from Kabul to prevent escalation of tensions with Afghanistan.

ABBOTTABAD COMMISSION: Mr Chaudhry said the Foreign Office had not initiated any follow-up on the recommendations made by the Abbottabad Commission which investigated Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s nine-year stay in Pakistan and his death in a US Special Forces raid in May 2011.

He said the implementation of recommendations could not take place because there were no instructions from the government in this regard.

The Chairman of the Abbottabad Commission, retired Justice Javed Iqbal, had presented his report to former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in January.

The report, which was leaked to media earlier this week, made a number of recommendations and advised that “official channels” be used for addressing distortions in ties with the US, particularly the “alarming expansion and reconstruction” of the US embassy in Islamabad that was alleged to have compromised the diplomatic traditions and norms.

Mr Chaudhry, however, said that the government was already engaged with the US on “issues of mutual concern”.