ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that since both Pakistan and the United States were stakeholders in peace and stability in Afghanistan hence they should join hands to achieve this goal. Expressing Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability in Afghanistan, he said, this called for Pakistan and the US to work together as if they failed even for a day such a situation will translate into a “big bonus” for the elements who were trying to destabilise the region. Ahsan Iqbal was speaking at a formal ceremony held at the US embassy to celebrate the US National Day and the President’s Day on Thursday. He said both Pakistan and the US had a special relationship and geo-politics of the region had made them both inseparable, therefore they needed to cooperate for peace and stability in the region. The minister said if there was peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan would get dividends and if there was instability there, it would suffer. Iqbal said that Pakistan and the US needed to work for strengthening the longstanding relationship. He said that trade between the two countries was now at the highest level because the private sectors from the two sides had done a good job. Now it was for the diplomats of the two countries to achieve such a level of cooperation in other fields as well, he added. The Interior Minister appreciated US role in giving scholarships to Pakistani students under the Fulbright Programme, adding that he wanted more students from Pakistan to be in the best American universities. US Ambassador David Hale in his remarks on the occasion said that America had built roads, dams, hospitals and schools in Pakistan and wanted it to be a safe and prosperous country both for Pakistanis and the Americans. He said the US had spent billions of dollars for development and upkeep of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The Interior Minister also joined the US ambassador in cutting the cake to mark the day. Among others, the ceremony was attended by a large number of people including ambassadors of various countries, politicians and members of the parliament. Another topic that was discussed was the Supreme Court’s Wednesday verdict declaring former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif ineligible to hold the office of president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Published in Daily Times, February 24th 2018.