Pakistan reiterates support for Afghan peace initiative

Pakistan's National Security Adviser Naseer Khan Janjua, who held talks with top Afghan leaders in Kabul on Saturday, reiterated on Sunday the country's full support to President Ashraf Ghani's recent dialogue offer to the Taliban insurgents.

Janjua said he had elaborate and successful meetings with Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, his counterpart Haneef Atmar and other senior officials on key issues, particularly the peace offer made by Ghani, Xinhua reported.

The Afghan President unveiled his peace strategy on February 28, offering recognition of the Taliban as a political party, allowing it to open office in Kabul, issue passports to its members and remove the names of senior commanders from the UN blacklists.

Janjua's office said he appreciated the long-awaited peace offer made by Ghani and termed it the "light on the other side of the tunnel in a war which had become rather perpetual".

"Use of force only injures people, wars are however virtually won politically," he added, assuring of Pakistan's full support for the vision of peace. He, however, highlighted that isolated, blamed and coerced Pakistan is of lesser use to Afghanistan.

Ghani also invited Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to visit Kabul as soon as possible to initiate "comprehensive dialogue" between the two countries.

"The world has started to look at and undermine Pakistan through the prism of Afghanistan which is not correct. We need to commit to each other and invest in bilateral relationship and Afghanistan needs to stand with Pakistan and both need to win peace together," Janjua said.

"We have made a sincere and serious offer of peace and together we have to make the best of it by rising beyond past. Let's not remain prisoners of past and let's secure our future with the aim not to win the war but to end it for which Pakistan should help," Ghani added.

He also expressed strong support for regional connectivity with the Central Asian republics to reap the benefits of ideal geo-strategic locations of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

--IANS

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