US recognises past mistakes: Olson

US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson on Wednesday said the United States was committed to a long-term partnership with Pakistan, it recognised its past mistakes and would not disengage from the region.
Ambassador Olson delivered a speech at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) titled United States relationship with Pakistan and Afghanistan, now and beyond the 2014 security transition.
“The United States is committed to a cooperative and long-term partnership with Pakistan, broader than any one issue and centred on areas of mutual interests,” he said.
“The US relationship with Pakistan is not shaped solely by our commitments and responsibilities in Afghanistan. 2014 is not 1989, the United States recognises the mistakes of the past, and will not disengage from the region.”
He said “even as we worked with Pakistan to ensure that 2014 was not a repeat of 1989, we were not myopically focused on December 2014”.
“Instead, we continue to look over the horizon. We see a Pakistan and a region that will continue to grow in importance,” he said.
Olson called for the United States and Pakistan to work together with the purpose to facilitate a negotiated peace in Afghanistan, noting, “For the sake of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the region, Pakistan’s full support to an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process is needed now.”
“We must work together with purpose to facilitate a negotiated peace in Afghanistan,” he said. “The US role is to help open the door for talks between Afghans, including support for a new office in Qatar, where negotiations can take place between the Afghan High Peace Council and authorized representatives of the Taliban,” he said. He said, “The end result of any process must be that the Taliban ends violence, breaks ties with Al Qaeda, and accepts Afghanistan’s constitution, including provisions that protect the rights of all citizens including women and minorities. If this happens, we believe the Taliban can be a part of Afghanistan’s future.”
“This must be an Afghan-led peace process, with Afghans talking to Afghans to find a way forward for their country. But there is much that the United States and Pakistan can do to support this effort,” Olson said.
“For Pakistan, supporting progress toward peace in Afghanistan is not a matter of altruism, but is instead a critical sovereign interest. I need only cite your civilian and military leaders who have stated clearly and repeatedly that continued violence and increased instability in Afghanistan equates to increased instability and violence in Pakistan,” he said.
“We agree. We are acutely aware of that nexus and believe the US effort to create the conditions for lasting peace in Afghanistan reflects a broad commitment to the stability of the region as a whole.”
“We are encouraged by the growing scope of engagement on this issue. At the centre of our work together on the peace process is the Core Group, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the United States.