PM hopes all Afghan leadership will work together for broad-based, comprehensive political settlement

ISLAMABAD: Commending the start of the Intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha on September 12, Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday expressed the hope that Afghan leadership would seize this historic opportunity to work together constructively and secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement.

He underscored that all Afghan parties must work for reduction in violence leading to ceasefire.

The prime minister was talking to High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) of Afghanistan Chairman Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who called on him, Prime Minister Office Media Wing in a press release said.

The Prime Minister conveyed that Pakistan would support whatever the Afghans agreed upon about the future of Afghanistan.

The prime minister reiterated his longstanding position that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and that a political solution was the only way forward.

He also expressed gratification that the international community had come to recognize this stance and also acknowledged Pakistan’s positive role in facilitation of the Afghan peace process.

The US-Taliban Peace Agreement was a major step forward in these endeavours.

Extending a warm welcome, the prime minister conveyed his best wishes for the successful outcome of the Afghan peace process and expressed the hope that Dr Abdullah Abdullah’s visit would help open a new chapter in the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He further reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for the post-conflict Afghanistan on its path to reconstruction and economic development.

In the bilateral context, Prime Minister Khan highlighted that Pakistan and Afghanistan had immense trade complementarities and emphasized the need to optimally utilize these capacities for mutually-beneficial trade and transit.

He assured that Pakistan would continue to undertake all efforts to facilitate Afghan transit trade and deepen our bilateral trade and economic ties and people-to-people exchanges with Afghanistan.

The prime minister said he was looking forward to his visit to Afghanistan on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani.