Hours before his meeting with US President Donald Trump scheduled on Monday at White House, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday that “Afghanistan has no military solution”.
“What you want me to say to talk to Trump. I am proud that. Now the whole world is saying that Afghanistan has no military solution. Insha Allah, I will put your case before Donald Trump. I will not embarrass you, Insha Allah,” he said while addressing a big gathering of Pakistani Americans at the capital of Arena in the downtown Washington.
Khan arrived in Washington on Saturday on a three-day visit on the invitation of Trump.
Trump is likely to press Khan for help on ending the war in Afghanistan and fighting militants when the two leaders meet at the White House on Monday amid their countries’ strained relations, Reuters reported.
Last year, Trump cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of offering “nothing but lies and deceit” while giving safe haven to terrorists, a charge angrily rejected by Islamabad.
“The purpose of the visit is to press for concrete cooperation from Pakistan to advance the Afghanistan peace process and to encourage Pakistan to deepen and sustain its recent effort to crackdown on militants and terrorists within its territory,” a senior US administration official told Reuters.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States wants to make clear to Pakistan that it is open to repairing relations if Pakistan changes how it handles “terrorists and militants.”
In Afghanistan, the official said, the peace process is at a critical point and Washington wants Pakistan “to pressure the Taliban into a permanent ceasefire and participation in inter-Afghan negotiations that would include the Afghan government.”
