Washington: The US has lauded Pakistan’s role in dialogue process between Kabul and Afghan Taliban, saying that Islamabad has played a helpful role in the reconciliation process.
Mark C. Toner, Deputy Spokesperson for US State Department, in daily press briefing said, “Pakistan has played a helpful role in the reconciliation process and we continue to want – want to continue to see them play that constructive role.”
To a question about impact on the emerging talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government after death of Mullah Omar, Mark C. Toner said, “Without being able to predict the future and what this, frankly, will mean – it’s clearly a moment of opportunity and we would encourage the Taliban to use this time of opportunity to make genuine peace with the Afghan Government and to rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan.”
He said Taliban can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of the legitimate political system of a sovereign, united Afghanistan supported by the international community, or they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilizing their own country.
It couldn’t be a more clear moment of opportunity for them to really embrace this reconciliation process, he added.
Over presence of Daesh in Afghanistan, the deputy spokesman said, US was aware of the presence of Daesh-affiliated militants in Afghanistan and Washington was monitoring that very closely, whether their emergence would have any kind of significant impact on the threat environment in the region.
