Pakistan to support all efforts for Afghan peace, Gen Bajwa tells Khalilzad

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan will support all efforts for peace in war-torn Afghanistan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Friday.

“Pakistan will play its role to enhance all efforts for peace towards fullest potential,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted the army chief as saying during his meeting with US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

The two met as part of ongoing discussions and efforts for success of the peace process in Afghanistan.

According to the ISPR, the steps taken with regards to end the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan were discussed. “[They] agreed to continue working towards mutually agreed goals,” the communiqué read.

Khalilzad, the statement added, appreciated Pakistan’s “wholehearted support to the process and expressed hope that others would follow in same vein”.

During his visit to Islamabad to discuss “developments in the Afghan peace process”, Khalilzad also met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a statement by the US Embassy said.

During the discussions “Khalilzad outlined the positive momentum in the Afghan peace process and next steps.”

The role Pakistan has played thus far, as well as additional positive steps it can take also came under deliberation.

“Consolidating peace will require reliable assurances from Afghanistan and Pakistan that neither side’s territory is used to threaten the other’s,” read the US Embassy statement.

“Such assurances on top of an intra-Afghan comprehensive peace agreement will allow for increased regional economic integration, connectivity, and development,” it concluded.

Khalilzad had made a stop over in Islamabad, while on his way to Doha to resume peace talks with the Taliban.

“I’m off to Doha, with a stop in Islamabad. In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we have been working on,” Khalilzad had said on Twitter.

He had termed his latest visit to Afghanistan as the “most productive” since he took up the office of the special representative.

Foreign Minister Qureshi, after meeting Khalilzad a day earlier, had “welcomed the progress achieved in the talks and the Intra-Afghan Peace Conference in Doha in which all participants agreed upon a basic roadmap”, according to a Foreign Office press release.

It was noted during the meeting between the two that ultimately, the intra-Afghan dialogue would be vital to reach an agreement that brings peace and stability to Afghanistan.

Qureshi told Khalilzadad that Pakistan will continue to play its supportive role for “smooth progress and successful outcome” of the peace efforts.

“It was also stressed that taking the Afghan peace process forward remained a shared responsibility,” the FO statement had said.