Top officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States met earlier this week to chalk out a roadmap for kick-starting negotiations for a final peace settlement in Afghanistan. The quadrilateral huddle has renewed hopes of reviving the moribund peace process.
Yesterday, Pakistani and Afghan regional security experts also met in Islamabad on the sidelines of the bilateral Track-2 dialogue.
Speaking during the meeting, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran urged the Afghan Taliban to give up weapons violence and join mainstream politics.
“If they [Taliban] want to rule Afghanistan, they should contest the elections and seize power through the electoral process,” he said. “They should come through elections and not through the power of guns.”
Afghan participants, including parliament members, retired generals, former insurgency leaders and security analysts, also asked Imran questions about his reported comments on Afghan Taliban.
They said Imran was regarded highly in Afghanistan as he was a Pakhtun, but some of his statements, like his comments on supporting the insurgency, had not gone down well in the country.
The PTI chief, however, contended the media distorted his statements sometimes. “I am anti-war. I do not support any ideology, which is against the spirit of democracy,” he said.
He also opposed any interference in Afghanistan either by Pakistan and any other country. “Foreign interference in Afghanistan has been destructive and we must not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs,” he added.
Imran emphasised peace in Afghanistan would mean peace in Pakistan and all efforts should be made to pursue this objective. “Afghanistan has suffered far too long and its people deserve peace like any other country,” he said. “Both countries need to work together for peace and security in the region.”
He also defended the treatment of Taliban at his cancer hospital, saying the organisation came to know of the episode after it received a letter by the Taliban years ago. He quickly added the hospital’s consideration had “always been humanitarian and its ability to treat cancer”. Organisers say the Track-2 dialogue is to help connect civil society and security stakeholders of both sides to improve relations.
Afghan TV channels
Pemra Chairman Absar Alam clarified there was no ban on Afghan TV channels in Pakistan.
He was responding to some Afghan participants who said Afghan channels could not be watched in Pakistan but Pakistani TV channels were aired in Afghanistan.
“It is a wrong impression Afghan TV channels are deliberately banned by the Pakistani government,” he said.
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