Chicago, Oct 29(ANI): Pakistan firmly shares the United States' goal of peace in Afghanistan and will do everything it can to facilitate discussions among 'all elements of the Taliban', the country's envoy to Washington has said.
"Pakistan and the United States are agreed that reconciliation is something we need to work for," Ambassador Husain Haqqani said at a program hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
But, he pointed out, a lot of times the problem is that a very small number of people, dedicated and violent, want to 'impose their will by arms.'
Haqqani praised comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that the US was seeking negotiations with Afghan insurgents while at the same time fighting them on the battlefield.
"Why can't we just talk to these people and get a settlement? Absolutely, we'd love to do it. If you have (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar's address please send him a letter on our behalf to come to the table," SANA quoted the Pakistani envoy, as saying.
"The problem is you can't be half engaged in these negotiations. Do the Taliban have a vision of where they want to be? Are they willing to be part of a pluralist Afghanistan in the future?"
Pakistan will "do everything to facilitate discussions between all elements of the Taliban that we can reach," he added.
Haqqani also requested the Americans is to be patient with Pakistan, saying that there are unresolved issues in the country.
Referring to a recent statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that if there were a war between Pakistan and America, he would side with Pakistan, Haqqani said: "Pakistan and the United States are not going to war." (ANI)
|
|
Read More: Hami
Comments:
