Afghan peace impossible without reconciliation: Pakistan

A top Pakistani foreign affairs advisor on Friday asserted that peace cannot be achieved in Afghanistan without the reconciliation process, media reported.

Addressing the inaugural session of the fifth round of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meeting here, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said this group of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China was striving to ensure peace in the war-torn country.

Aziz welcomed the signing of the peace accord between Gulbuddin Hekmatyar group, Hezb-e-Islami and Afghan government, and, according to Geo News, hoped other militant factions would also ink peace agreements soon.

The advisor also rejected the impression from some countries that Pakistan was controlling Afghan Taliban.

Aziz urged Kabul to have a clear and positive response for the Afghan Taliban. He, however, went on to say that the Taliban had not yet extended a positive response for dialogue with the Afghanistan government.

He asserted that anti-Pakistan statements from Afghanistan were having a negative impact on the peace process.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan can jointly control infiltration," he said.

The first formal talks with the Taliban since their 2001 ouster collapsed in 2015 after it was announced that their founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for two years, throwing the militant group into disarray. The movement has since split on whether to participate in talks.

--IANS

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