Pak will 'support' not 'lead' Afghan reconciliation process

London, Feb 23(ANI): Pakistan will lend its full support to any effort by the Afghan government to achieve a political settlement with the Taliban but does not want to lead a peace process that would impose a solution, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said.

"We will support any (peace efforts) that are Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-driven. This is our first and last pre-requisite," The Dawn quoted Khar, as saying at Chatham House, an international relations think tank in London.

"But we will not lead. We cannot lead ... We will only follow what our Afghan brothers and sisters decide is the course of action they will adopt," she added.

Khar said Pakistan should not be seen to be interfering too closely

She stressed that Pakistan would also not prevent any nation from helping the Afghan government in achieving a political settlement to end the war.

Her statement came after Afghan President Hamid Karzai asked Pakistan "to support and facilitate our direct negotiation efforts as part of the peace process".

"Pakistan's support to the peace process will be crucial to its success, as well as a significant contribution to the security and stability of Afghanistan and the entire region," Karzai said. (ANI)