Pakistan ready to train Afghan forces: Gilani

KABUL Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Gilani said his country was ready to train Afghan army, police and administration officials in coping with the aftermath of the 2014 withdrawal of foreign forces.

At statement from the Pakistan embassy in Kabul said Gilani made the offer a meeting with Wolesi Jirga member Ustad Mohammad Mohaqiq in Islamabad.

He said friendship and animosity could not co-exist and the same was the case with reconciliation and brinkmanship, according to the embassy press release.

Gilani stressed the need for frequent interaction between parliamentarians of the two countries, saying people-to-people contact was the best diplomacy to build bridges.

The prime minister, reiterating Pakistan’s support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation, said: “We want to see an independent, prosperous and stable Afghanistan.”

Gilani added his government would support any solution to the Afghan problem that did not destabilise Pakistan. He recalled the time when his country had to host three million Afghan refugees.

The premier said he had gone to Quetta to express his deep condolences on the killing of Hazara community’s pilgrims and directed the administration to take all steps to ensure their safety.

“Interior Minister Rehman Malik also recently visited Quetta on my instruction to assure the community that the government will bring the culprits to justice,” he continued.

He thanked Ustad Mohaqiq for donating a piece of land for building the Jinnah Hospital in Afghanistan with the assistance of Pakistan.

Also the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Law and Justice, Mohaqiq said the neighbours shared common traditions, culture and history.

He paid tribute to the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, saying he was a man of peace and advocated for an inclusive reconciliation process.

Afghanistan and Pakistan should work together to accomplish the mission of the late Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, who wanted to see the countries as good neighbours and friends.

pr/mud

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