The Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Thursday informed Senate that the first round of quadrilateral talks of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and the US on Afghan peace process will take place on January 16. Speaking in Senate on the recent visit of Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif to Afghanistan, he said that army chief carried a message to Kabul that the peace process must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
The minister said that both the countries agreed that they would pursue peace and reconciliation with the Taliban groups who are willing to talk, adding those who do not want to be part of the talk process would be dealt with under a mutually worked out framework. "It has also been agreed that the peace process should not be allowed to sabotage only because some Taliban are not part of it. A decree will be sought from Afghan religious scholars and it will be later endorsed at the OIC level to facilitate the peace process," he added.
The two countries will not allow their soil to be used against each other, he said and added that there will be intelligence sharing, and intelligence-based operations will be carried out against terrorists. He said that it has been agreed that Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used against Afghanistan, and we would press Afghanistan to do the same, as a large number of Taliban fugitives are taking refuge there.
"The intelligence co-ordination between Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghan spy agency NDS or National Directorate of Security will be strengthened," he added. The visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan to participate in Heart of Asia Conference, he said helped a lot in improving relations between the two countries.
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