FOLLOWING Prime Minister Imran Khan’s telephonic conversation with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in a late night statement on Wednesday announced that Pakistan will host an Afghan peace moot and that it will be attended by senior Afghan leadership.
The situation unfolding in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of NATO troops indeed is a matter of worry for all the regional countries especially Pakistan as we have also paid a heavy price of the prolonged Afghan conflict.
This is the reason that Pakistan is more interested than any other country for the return of peace and stability to the war-torn country as it will also open new vistas of trade and economic opportunities with the Central Asian States.
The very decision on the part of Pakistani leadership to bring together the Afghan leaders on one table is a prudent one given the fact that the intra Afghan dialogue faces deadlock and not reaching any conclusion.
We are confident that the participation of senior Afghan leadership in the moot will find a way to give the much needed push to the peace process.
As repeatedly stated by our side, there is no military solution to the conflict and continuation of hostilities will only further descend Afghanistan into chaos and anarchy and add to the woes of Afghan people.
Whilst demonstrating maturity, flexibility and far sightedness, responsibilities rests with the Afghan parties to give a healing touch to their people by reaching a politically negotiated settlement which is comprehensive, inclusive and durable.
Pakistan or any other country can only play the role of a facilitator but the final decision as to what kind of future they want rests with the Afghan leaders themselves.
Afghanistan is rich in natural resources including a vast amount of iron, copper, gold, cobalt, rare earth metals and lithium.
These will continue to lay dormant and un-utilized until and unless peace and stability returns to the country.
For a better future of Afghan people, the Afghan leadership must seize this historic opportunity and foil the sordid designs of spoilers who want to use the Afghan land as proxy against other countries.
