PM Khan assures support to end the violence, establish Afghanistan peace

KABUL: Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured that Pakistan will fully support to end violence and establish durable peace in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing a joint press stakeout with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani after their talks in Kabul on Thursday.
“The whole idea of coming to Afghanistan is to assure you that people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan have just one concern. Peace in Afghanistan,” the PM. “Unfortunately the violence has increased in Afghanistan,” he noted with concern.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is the country after Afghanistan, which is the most interested for peace in Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan has played its role in getting started first with the Taliban’s talks with the Americans and then for intra-Afghan dialogue.
Imran Khan said the people of Afghanistan have suffered violence for four decades. He said the erstwhile FATA region of Pakistan was also devastated by the war on terror and the livelihood of the tribesmen was badly affected. The Prime Minister said the peoples on both sides of the border want peace, trade and connectivity. He said this trade and connectivity between the two countries will increase in days to come.
He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoy historic links and brotherly relations and recalled that during the era of 70s, Kabul and Peshawar were favourite destinations for the visitors from both sides.
Speaking on the occasion, the Afghan President said he had a very productive engagement with Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said, “A comprehensive political settlement for enduring peace within the framework of our values and our constitution is the future of Afghanistan.” He added that violence is not the answer to any conflict.
Ashraf Ghani said, “We can move forward and a comprehensive ceasefire can be achieved.”
Reacting to the rising trend of Islamophobia in some European countries, the Afghan President said, “Respect for our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is in the blood and mind of every Muslim. Respect for our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is respect for the entire Muslim world.”
He said there is a need to differentiate between positive and negative freedom of expression.
Earlier, the Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani held a meeting and discussed ways to strengthen ties between their countries. The meeting focused on further deepening the fraternal relations between the two countries, the Afghan peace process, and regional economic development and connectivity.
The two sides discussed the prospects of resumption of peace in Afghanistan following the Doha peace agreement inked between the United States and Taliban.
President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed to strengthen bilateral relations.
Prime Minister, Imran Khan expressed confidence that his visit would help foster a stronger and multi-faceted relationship between the two brotherly neighboring countries.
Earlier, the Prime Minister was accorded a warm welcome upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace on his first official visit to the neighbouring country. The Premier travelled to Afghanistan on Ghani’s invitation.
The move has been seen as an effort to build on sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months for enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.
The last time PM Imran and Ghani had met in person was when the latter visited Pakistan in June 2019. Before that, they had met on the sidelines of the 14th OIC Summit in Makkah, Saudi Arabia in May 2019. – TLTP