WASHINGTON: The United States has pledged a transparent role in pushing the Afghan reconciliation process forward saying it regularly updates both Kabul and Islamabad on its own efforts to get Afghans together.
State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Washington would be transparent in its efforts with Islamabad, which has an important role in supporting the Afghan reconciliation process.
"Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job here. Our goal is to get Afghans talking to Afghans to get a process of reconciliation that is among Afghans. We have said that we believe that Pakistan has a role to play in supporting this process, as we do.
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the Pakistanis about that when she was in Pakistan in October.
Pakistan itself has committed to supporting reconciliation and joined in the statements positive statements made in Istanbul and Bonn in that regard."
The spokesperson was replying to a question in the backdrop of reports that Kabul is seeking to have a Taliban office in Saudi Arabia for its own talks with the group instead of Qatar, where Taliban representatives have reportedly met with US officials to build trust ahead of peace talks. The peace process aims at ending the decade-old Afghan war.
When asked about Kabul's reported preference for a Taliban office in Saudi Arabia over Qatar, the spokesperson said the question of opening a Taliban office in Qatar was still not decided. She declined to give details of negotiations so far.
"I'm not going to speak to ideas that may or may not have come up, been rejected by one party or another or host country or whatever.
But I think you do know that the focus of the conversation now is on whether it would make sense in the context of a larger Afghan-Afghan process of reconciliation for the Taliban to have an office in Qatar. This is an issue that has not been decided, and the consultations continue on it."
The spokesperson disclosed that since October 2009 the US Government has dispersed some $2.2 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar legislation, including about $500 million in emergency humanitarian relief.
"It allows us to support programs that help Pakistan improve its economy in vital sectors, for example, in energy, in economic growth, in the stabilization of the border regions, in education, and in health."
The civilian cooperation continues and all of this money continues to flow, including the assistance to help lay some 210 kilometers of road in the FATA and other parts of Pakistan to fund Fulbright scholars, so bright leaders of Pakistan's future can come and study in the United States, and also to promote private sector growth in Pakistan.
Comments
Comments are closed.