Visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry stressed Wednesday that stability in neighboring Afghanistan is critical to peace in South Asia and called on the international community for continuous economic commitment to the war-torn country.

"We believe peace in Afghanistan would mean peace for the whole region," Chaudhry said in an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo.

The Pakistani diplomat, in Japan to attend bilateral political consultations with his Japanese counterpart, said international contributions are vital to economic stability in Afghanistan.

"On the economic side, we believe that the international community must stay engaged with Afghanistan," he said. "Now that the forces are drawing down, there are obvious economic stresses on Afghanistan."

For its part, Pakistan contributes to Afghan development through a large number of development projects, including building highways and roads to connect the two countries, Chaudhry said.

"We have already increased our contribution from $380 million to $500 million," he said. Once peace returns to Afghanistan and development starts, it will present "a whole new economic situation for the whole region," he added.

On the political front, Pakistan has offered to facilitate reconciliation in Afghanistan, Chaudhry explained.

"Our message to the Taliban was that they have to talk, they must talk with the Afghan government because only (a) stable Afghanistan will ensure peace," he said. "Stability will only come if the Taliban are able to talk and resolve their differences, give up insurgency, not fight but sit (at) the table with the Afghan government to join the Afghan polity."

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is reportedly pursuing peace talks with the militants, who effectively ruled large parts of the country from 1996 to 2001. The insurgents and their related group have conducted attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Terrorism is transnational in nature. It has affected our region and the whole world. . . . Pakistan happens to be (at) the forefront of this fight" against terrorism, Chaudhry said.

Though Pakistan has suffered, with more than 50,000 lives lost, its resolve to address terrorism "remains undeterred, unwavering in the face of huge challenges that we faced," he said.

Chaudhry said that Pakistan condemns the acts of the Islamic State group, which controls large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, and pointed out that "all the states in the Middle East deserve to be shown respect for their sovereignty, for their territorial integrity."

He also said his government "does not recognize any linkages of any groups with Islamic State and there is no presence of any Islamic State in Pakistan," stressing that Islamabad will not allow any group or individual to develop any connections with the extremists.

Chaudhry described ties between Pakistan and Japan as "positive" and expressed hope for further improvement.

"We would like to have a mutually beneficial relationship, a relationship that benefits both countries," Chaudhry said. "We think that the two countries can cooperate with each other in the economic area, in the trade and investment area."

Pakistan offers a large number of investment opportunities for Japanese firms, particularly in the energy field as it's "a sector of high demand and attention" in the country, he said.