Pakistan reiterated on Friday that it considers the United States to be a friend and that it “wants broad-based relations to achieve our common goal of peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.”
During his weekly news conference, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said this. He was asked about Pakistan’s reaction to the worsening crisis in Afghanistan, as well as the country’s ties with the United States.
“Pakistan and the United States have a history of close cooperative relations. This cooperative relationship has served the interests of both the countries,” he said.
Pakistan and the United States have similar perspectives and objectives on a number of important topics in the current Afghan Peace Process, according to the spokesman.
“We both believe that there’s no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and we both want to see peace in Afghanistan,” he noted.
According to Chaudhri, Pakistan played a key role in getting the Taliban and the US to a peace agreement in Doha last year.
He went on to say that Pakistan and the US support an inclusive, broad-based, and comprehensive political solution in Afghanistan via a process led and controlled by Afghans.
Chaudhri said neither should Pakistan “be looked at through the prism of another country nor should our relations be viewed narrowly”.
According to the FO spokesperson, Pakistan will make all choices and follow policies that are in its national interest and contribute to peace and development in the region and beyond.
The Extended Troika, which includes special envoys from Pakistan, the United States, China, and Russia, met in Doha yesterday (August 11).
According to him, the members of the Extended Troika addressed the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and looked into measures to speed up intra-Afghan peace negotiations in order to achieve an inclusive political solution and put an end to Afghanistan’s four-decade-long war.
The Extended Troika also engaged with delegations from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, headed by Dr Abdullah Abdullah, and the Taliban, led by Mullah Baradar. The countries of the Extended Troika discussed the following key points:
• There was a need for urgent measures to reduce violence leading to a ceasefire.
• There was no military solution to the Afghan conflict.
• The Afghan sides should put forward their peace plans on a priority basis so that progress is made towards a political roadmap.
• There is a need for all sides to respect human rights and not indulge in human rights violations.
Pakistan values the Extended Troika’s role in delivering long-term peace and stability to Afghanistan and will continue to participate in this platform to coordinate efforts to speed up the peace process.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/pakistan/
