Afghanistan peace process is moving in the right direction, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday.
“It is not going to be easy because there has been 19 years of conflict, but it is for the first time moving in the right direction,” Khan said in an interview with Belgian VRT News.
Khan said that there were 2.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the country could “put leverage on the Afghans, on the Taliban, some of whom have families here, to make peace in Afghanistan.”
“I can assure that Pakistan has tried its best. Since my government has come in, we have left no stone unturned so that there would be peace in Afghanistan,” Khan said.
After over a year of talks, the United States and the Taliban have reached an understanding on a week-long reduction in violence that began on Saturday.
If successful, the sides will sign peace agreement a day after the violence reduction period ends.
“The deal will be signed in the presence of Pakistan because it was impossible for the deal to come through without our efforts. After February, we will try to build a delegation to promote intra-Afghan peace process and we have also decided when and how those talks will take place. Pakistan has played its role in the peace process with wholeheartedness and honesty and it is now incumbent upon the Afghan government to do the same,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.
Qureshi said that he had told US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad that the US and its allies around the region must remain wary of certain elements who benefit from continued fighting. “I warned him that these elements are bent on destroying the progress of our peace efforts,” he said.
