PAK, US NEGOTIATE SETTLEMENT OVER AFGHANISTAN
Islamabad, July 30: Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf met with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington during which the two leaders discussed the urgent need for reduction in violence and a “negotiated” political settlement in Afghanistan.
The talks also covered other issues of mutual interest, the Dawn News reported on Friday. This was the second meeting between the two leaders who first met in Geneva in March. “Had a positive follow-up meeting with NSA Jake Sullivan today in Washington,” Yusuf tweeted in an early morning tweet.
“Took stock of progress made since our Geneva meeting and discussed bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” he said, adding that the two sides “agreed to sustain the momentum in PakUS bilateral cooperation”. Though Yusuf did not mention Afghanistan among the issues discussed in the meeting, Sullivan devoted half of his tweet to the Afghan issue.
“I met with Pakistan’s NSA today to consult on regional connectivity and security, and other areas of mutual cooperation. We discussed the urgent need for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan and a negotiated political settlement to the conflict,” Sullivan said.
Since the announcement of the withdrawal of US forces by August 31, violence has been rising in Afghanistan and efforts to broker a peace settlement between the Afghan government and insurgent Taliban have slowed.