- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
THE US said Pakistan has a lot to gain and will continue to have a critical role in the Afghan peace process.
“We do appreciate Pakistan’s efforts to advance the Afghan peace process and stability in South Asia, including by encouraging the Taliban to engage in substantive negotiations,” state department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference in Washington on Monday (2).
“Pakistan has much to gain and will continue to have a critical role, will be well-positioned to have a role in supporting the outcome that not only the United States seeks, but that many of our international partners, many of the countries in the region also seek. So, we’ll continue to work and to communicate closely with our Pakistani partners on this,” he said.
Last week, Pakistan’s national security advisor Moeed Yusuf met his American counterpart Jake Sullivan but had no meetings at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the state department.
“The (Pakistani) national security advisor did not meet with the secretary (of state, Tony Blinken),” Price said.
Responding to a question, Price noted the recent statement of China on the Afghan peace process. Beijing said the ongoing peace process needs to be “Afghan-led” and “Afghan-owned”.
“So, there is an alignment of interests, at least in some areas, when it comes to what we seek in Afghanistan, what the PRC (People’s Republic of China) seeks in Afghanistan, and what the broader international community seeks in Afghanistan. We will continue to explore how we might be able to coordinate and work together towards that shared goal,” he added.
