Islamabad, Aug 4 (ANI): Pakistan's top diplomat in the UK, High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan has said that the decade-long stay of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan had failed to stamp out the Taliban or Al Qaeda operatives in any area of the country.
"How long have NATO troops been there in Afghanistan? Nine, ten years? And they've spent trillions of dollars there, but have they succeeded to clear one particular area of Taliban or al Qaeda operatives? Not a single case," the Daily Times quoted Hassan, as saying.
Hassan questioned what America had achieved in ten years of war in Afghanistan, and what it might leave behind in 2014.
"Ten years down the road you have not even allowed democratic parties to be active, you are not allowing political parties to exist in Afghanistan. How can you have democracy if you don't have political parties?" he questioned.
The High Commissioner argued that Pakistan could still play a key role in negotiating peace with the Taliban, but the US had shown little interest in offers of any aid.
"When we have been telling them that you must have a dialogue with e Taliban, good or bad, they never listened to us. Now they have started back-door diplomacy and all these backtracks through the Saudis and others. But again they're forgetting one thing. Pakistan has been one of the major players in the region, ever since the Soviets occupied Afghanistan," Hassan said. (ANI)
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