Alwaght- Pakistan on Thursday voiced support to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s offer to seek peace through dialogue with the Taliban.
The Pakistani government has also said it would extend all possible help to bring peace to Afghanistan, local media reported.
Following an international peace conference held in Kabul on Wednesday, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal met retired Lt. Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua, Pakistan's national security advisor, and conveyed the Afghan president's message for cordial relations with Pakistan to bring lasting peace to the region, local media reported.
“Pakistan welcomed President Ghani’s offer of seeking peace through dialogue and we are ready to extend all possible support to bring peace in Afghanistan” Janjua told the ambassador
“Pakistan believes in a vision of common and shared future with the people of Afghanistan, that is why it has all along supported efforts for political reconciliation in Afghanistan under international and regional peace initiatives,” he added.
“We discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to Afghanistan-Pakistan bilateral relations, the current environment and specific steps for a positive and constructive path forward,” Zakhilwal tweeted after the meeting
On Wednesday, during a peace conference in Kabul, the Afghan president offered unconditional peace talks and called on the Taliban to shun violence and become a political party.
Ghani also announced that state-to-state talks would be initiated with Pakistan to assure coordinated efforts to support the proposed talks with the Taliban.
"We will be ready to start talks with Pakistan and forget the past and start a new chapter,” Ghani said.
More than 16 years after the United States toppled a Taliban regime in an invasion of Afghanistan and despite the presence of thousands of US-led foreign troops across the country, the Taliban are still carrying out militant attacks.
