ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday welcomed Iran’s engagement with the Taliban and the Afghan government delegation to sort out a peaceful solution for the conflict-hit country after the pullout of American troops.

“Pakistan welcomes Iran’s engagement with Afghan parties to achieve a negotiated political settlement,” the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in response to queries by media persons about the visit of Taliban and Afghan government delegations to Tehran.

Spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry said Pakistan considered the role of Iran in Afghan peace process as important. “Iran, like Pakistan, is a neighbouring country of Afghanistan and host to millions of Afghans refugees”, he added. He hoped that the Afghan parties would seize the opportunity and achieve an “inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement”.

Tehran recently hosted the first significant peace talks in months in a previously unannounced meeting that comes as U.S. forces leave. The high-level peace talks between the Afghan sides follow months-old discussions in Qatar that have been stalled by a diplomatic impasse and escalating violence.

A joint statement released after the talks on Thursday said the Afghan government and Taliban agreed that “war is not the solution to the Afghanistan problem” and that all efforts must be directed toward achieving a peaceful political solution. The two sides also agreed to continue talks on the specific mechanisms of achieving lasting peace.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021