Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday suggested an interim setup in Afghanistan as a possible solution to an apparent impasse in the ongoing peace process, while blaming the Afghan government for the stalemate in talks, Pakistan’s Express Tribune said in a report.
According to the report, the suggestion came during Khan’s interaction with journalists at his office in Islamabad on Monday.
“The Afghan government was a hurdle in peace process that was insisting that Taliban should talk to it,” said Khan.
He also confirmed that he had cancelled a scheduled meeting with Taliban leadership due to objections raised by the Afghan government.
Khan said that the Afghan peace process can only be successful if there is a neutral interim government, which can hold free and transparent elections to be participated by all the stakeholders.
“How much time it will take to set up an interim government and hold free elections, I cannot say,” he added, as quoted by the Express Tribune.
The Afghan peace process is aimed at ending the longest war that the US has ever fought. The US and the Taliban last month agreed in draft on foreign forces withdrawal and counterterrorism assurances after 16-day talks in Qatar.
The Pakistani Prime Minister noted that the US had acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan’s role for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.
According to the Express Tribune report, Khan said the US thought it was only Pakistan that could bring Taliban to the negotiating table.
