Trump seeks Imran Khan’s help

Official: Pakistan’s assistance sought for Afghan peace talks

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has asked for Pakistan’s help with faltering Afghan peace talks in a letter to new Prime Minister Imran Khan in which he made clear that Islamabad’s assistance was “fundamental” to the health of the two countries’ strained relationship, a senior Trump administration official said.

The US president wants to end the 17-year-old conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who are fighting to drive out international forces and reestablish their version of strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The administration official, who did not want to be identified, said on Monday that Trump requested “Pakistan’s full support” for the US effort to advance the Afghan peace process and for US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad’s trip to the region.

Trump also said in the letter to Imran that he “recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory”, the official said.

“The letter also makes clear that Pakistan’s assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership,” the official said.

The Pakistani foreign ministry had a different take on the letter, saying Trump asked for its “support and facilitation” in negotiating an end to the war, and offered to renew bilateral ties.

Officially allies in fighting terrorism, Pakistan and the United States have a complicated relationship, bound by Washington’s dependence on Pakistan to supply its troops in Afghanistan, where the United States still has 14,000 troops, but plagued by accusations Islamabad is playing a double game.

US officials have long been pushing Pakistan to lean on Taliban leaders, who Washington says are based inside Pakistan, to bring them to the negotiating table.

Pakistani officials deny offering safe havens to the Afghan Taliban and say their influence on the group has waned over the years.

Trump appointed Afghan-born US diplomat Khalilzad as special envoy tasked with pushing through peace talks.

Khalilzad said last month he hoped a deal would be reached by April 2019.

But Afghan Taliban militants said they had not accepted any deadline and said a three-day meeting in Qatar between their leaders and Khalilzad ended with no agreement. —

The letter also makes clear that Pakistan’s assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership. US official