Daily Times

Pakistan has assured the United States of its role seeking a political solution to the lingering conflict in Afghanistan amid reports that the US and the Afghan Taliban are close to striking a peace deal after over a yearlong painstaking process. The Afghan peace process was one of the agenda items during a meeting between the visiting US chief diplomat for South Asia, Ambassador Alice Wells, and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood at the Foreign Office on Tuesday.

Ambassador Wells is on a four-day tour to Pakistan as part of ongoing consultations between the two countries on a wide-range of issues covering bilateral ties as well as other regional and international issues. The meeting at the Foreign Office came just ahead of an interaction between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Trump on the sidelines of World Economic Forum at the Davos. An official handout issued by the Foreign Office said the two sides discussed recent developments regarding the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.

“The foreign secretary reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to continue to support the peace process and pursue positive development of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations,” the statement added. Foreign Secretary Mahmood highlighted the grave human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoJ&K), intensified ceasefire violations from the Indian side, belligerent rhetoric of the Indian civil and military figures, and India’s aggressive measures along the Line of Control (LoC).