Pakistan wants broad-based relations with US: FO

Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has said that Pakistan considers the United States a friend and wants broad-based relations with it to achieve the shared objective of peace and prosperity in the region.

Addressing a weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Friday, Zahid said Pakistan and the US have a history of close ties, which has served the interests of both countries.

He pointed out that both countries have a convergence of views and interests on a number of key issues, including the ongoing Afghan peace process. "We both believe that there’s no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and we both want to see peace in the conflict-hit country."

It is unfair to blame Pakistan for crisis in Afghanistan, says PM

He said both Pakistan and the US support an inclusive and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan through a process that is owned and led by Afghans themselves.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that it is unfair to blame Pakistan for the crisis in Afghanistan.

He stated that no country has tried harder to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table than Pakistan.

In his address to the Central and South Asia Conference in Tashkent, the prime minister said that, after Afghanistan, Pakistan is the most affected due to the conflict.

US has really messed it up in Afghanistan: PM Imran

He added that Pakistan has lost 70,000 lives in the last 15 years and that escalation of the conflict would be the last thing Pakistan wanted.

He said that with the reduction of military action against the Taliban in Pakistan, we have made every effort to bring them to the negotiating table so that a peaceful settlement can take place.

He also said that Pakistan is not a spokesman for the Taliban and what is being done by them has nothing to do with it. He mentioned that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan and is not following the policy of "strategic depth" anymore.