ISLAMABAD (Pajhwok): Advisor to Pakistan Omar’s death and the killing of his successor Mullah Mansour sabotaged the Afghan peace process.
The advisor was talking to a 14-member delegation of the Afghan media currently visiting Pakistan.
He said the Afghans had requested Pakistan’s help in bringing peace and stability to their country, but the Afghans themselves had to do that.
He said Pakistan made a lot of efforts for the peace talks but the announcement of Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death at the eleventh hour and the killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansour sabotaged the peace process.
He said there was no military solution to the Afghanistan conflict which should be resolved through peace negotiations.
Aziz said the Afghan security forces had been able to effectively defend their areas after the NATO’s combat mission ended in 2014.
He also praised the Afghan Jihad against the Soviets and the Afghans defeated the British and the Russians in the same century.
He said Afghanistan had never been a colony and always fought big powers with local forces.
Aziz urged the Pakistani and Afghan media to play their role in reviving trust between the two countries.
Some Afghan journalists asked furious questions from Aziz and called on the Pakistani government to take action against militants operating on its soil.
Female Afghan journalist with Killid Radio Amna Mayar said the Afghans bravely fought against the Soviets and rescued Pakistan from them.
But now Pakistan has closed routes on Afghans and has been firing rockets into a number of Afghan provinces, she said. “Peace cannot come to the region until there is peace in Afghanistan.”
Political affairs expert from Afghanistan, Mohammad Hassan Haqyar, said the two countries should seriously share their problems with each other and jointly find solution to them.
“Pakistan may not weild full influence on Taliban, but it can at least bring them to the negotiating table,” believed Haqyar.
Radio Azadi representative Aimal Sanjida said instead of sharing its problems with the United Nations, Pakistan closed border with Afghanistan and expelled Afghan refugees.
Sartaj Aziz stressed a close cooperation and meaningful engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in areas of security, counter-terrorism and border management for preventing cross border movement of terrorist groups, read a Foreign Office statement.
The adviser said terrorism was a common enemy and reiterated Pakistan's desire for lasting peace in Afghanistan
He said the relations between the two brotherly countries were "rooted in common history, religion, culture and people-to-people ties". Aziz said like their past, "Afghanistan and Pakistan also shared their destiny".
He said there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and the focus should be on political settlement through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process.
Aziz highlighted the efforts made by Pakistan for peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, saying "cooperation between the two countries was important for promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan".
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