Imran assures Ghani of Pak support to end Afghan strife
Imran pays first visit to Kabul since becoming PM; Afghan president calls Pakistan premier’s visit ‘historic;’ Nisar refutes claim made by former army chief Raheel Sharif
Pakistan will do everything it can to help reduce violence in Afghanistan following an upsurge in Taliban atacks, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday on his first visit to Kabul since taking office more than two years ago.
President Ashraf Ghani called Imran’s visit “historic” while the Pakistani prime minister assured the Afghan leader that his government would do “everything possible” to help reduce violence in the war-torn country.
Addressing a joint press conference alongside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Presidential Palace, the premier said that the two countries have historical links.
“The idea of visiting at a time when violence is increasing [in Afghanistan] is to assure you, President Ghani, that the people and the government of Pakistan have only one concern; peace in Afghanistan.”
“The Afghan people have suffered for four decades,” he said. The premier also noted that despite the role Pakistan has played in geting the Taliban to speak with Americans and with regards to intra-afghan dialogue, the level of violence has risen in Afghanistan.
The visit comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan as Kabul government negotiators and the Taliban are holding Us-brokered negotiations in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to chart a course for a post-war Afghanistan.
“You come with a with a series of very important messages ... but fundamental to this is that violence is not an answer, a comprehensive political setlement for an enduring peace within the framework of our values, our Constitution in the Islamic Republic is the way to the future,” Ghani told Imran at the presidential palace.
Imran acknowledged Pakistan had played a key role in geting the Taliban to the negotiating table and that Islamabad remains concerned that “despite the talks in Qatar, the level of violence is rising.”
“Whatever is possible, we will do to help reduce the violence,” and help move the Afghan-taliban talks toward a cease-fire, Khan said. “The whole objective of this visit is to build trust, to communicate more. ... We will be helping you.”
Imran said it was Pakistan that first persuaded the Taliban to talk to Washington in 2018 for negotiations that eventually yielded a withdrawal deal for all foreign forces. He also credited Islamabad’s efforts in helping start the peace talks in Doha.
Imran’s visit comes days ater the Pentagon announced it would reduce the number of US military personnel in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-january.
In an unrelated development, former interior minister and veteran politician Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has refuted a claim made by former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif that he (Khan) along with the then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had offered an extension to the-then military chief during the last government of the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz ( PML-N).
“It is ludicrous to assert that we had also proposed the position of field marshal to Raheel Sharif,” said Nisar, who had let the PML-N because of his differences with the party’s top leadership before the 2018 general elections.
Nisar was commenting on a story “Did Raheel Sharif seek an extension from Nawaz Sharif.”
Raheel Sharif had been quoted in the story by retired general Amjad Shoaib as saying that following a meeting with the-then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other key PML-N leaders when he was leaving the meeting room of the premier’s office, he was approached by Shahbaz Sharif and Nisar Ali Khan who offered him an extension in service.
Shoaib had stated that the former army chief had told them that he did not want an extension because he had already announced several months previously that he would not continue in his post ater the end of his three-year term.
He said that when Raheel Sharif again showed his reluctance he was offered the slot of field marshal, which he again refused as he was not interested in a post where he would just be a figurehead with nothing to do.
Nisar Ali Khan said: “How could I do that when I did not have the authority to grant an extension nor were we authorised in this context by the prime minister. Who came up with this ‘brilliant’ proposal and who said what in an open civil-military meeting at the highest level should beter remain unsaid at the moment.
I strongly feel that these are sensitive official issues and we must exercise caution in going into the ‘I said, he said’ syndrome.