'Power-sharing formula' with Taliban: Pakistan rejects Afghan officials' remarks as baseless

Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as completely baseless the comments and "ideas" attributed to it by Afghan officials relating to alleged "power-sharing formula" with the Taliban or attempting to "bring fiefdoms to Afghanistan". "This is fabrication as no such notions have been expressed by any Pakistani official," said Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry while commenting on Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister remarks that Pakistan has suggested Afghan government to share power with the Taliban as part of the end game.
"As is well known, this is not our policy to encourage any fissiparous tendencies. In fact, Pakistan has always supported a peaceful, stable and united Afghanistan," the Foreign Office spokesman said, adding Islamabad was playing a constructive and positive role to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process. In his telephonic conversations with President Karzai since taking office last month, he recalled that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to support the efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.
He further said "the negative statements from Afghan leadership and officials tend to vitiate the atmosphere and constrain development of close and co-operative ties between the two countries." "We hope that Afghanistan will reciprocate our constructive efforts, refrain from attributing misleading ideas to us, and work together for sustainable peace and stability that is so vitally important for progress and prosperity of the two countries and the region," the spokesman hoped.
As United States is in talks with Taliban in Doha, Ahmadi claimed that prime minister's advisor on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz had floated the proposal during a meeting with Afghan ambassador Umer Daudzai in Islamabad on Friday. Pakistan, however, rejected any such proposal floated by Aziz.