Pakistan seeks revival of US-Taliban talks

KABUL.

Talking to reporters ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens.  But I will say the prime minister has been very helpful and he wants … to see something happen.  So, that’s fine.”

The president recalled the US hit the Taliban harder than they were ever hit in the past years.

He said: “I think Pakistan will be a great help.  I know the prime minister wants to be a help.  But we’ve hit the Taliban harder than we’ve ever hit them.  I guess we’ve been there now 19 years.  How ridiculous is that? 

“And when they killed 12 people — one of them an American soldier, as you know, and one a United Nations solider — for the sake of going into the meeting with a little strength, they thought.  They went in with weakness.  And I cancelled everything.”

Imran Khan said he looked forward to talking about Afghanistan, a big issue for Pakistan. Stability in Afghanistan meant stability in Pakistan, he remarked. 

“We also want to talk about all three neighbours: Afghanistan, India and Kashmir.  And, of course, Iran, it’s just -- we will discuss the situation there because they are neighbours of Pakistan,” he said.

nh/mud