Islamabad reacts at President Ghani’s remarks of ‘Peace with Pakistan First’

AVA- Asif told reporters “Pakistan’s position on Afghanistan is very clear: we want to see peace and stability in the country.”

Insisting that Pakistan will contribute and play its due role in all the initiatives taken to peace in Afghanistan, Asif said “We already have bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral and multilateral mechanisms for dialogue and interaction with Afghanistan in place.”

He said those mechanisms should be utilised to their full potential.”

In his message on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, President Ghani said the Afghan government is fully prepared for the peace talks and negotiations with Pakistan for peace is on the agenda of the government.

He was apparently gesturing towards his previous remarks where he insisted that peace talks with Pakistan is important and should come first before holding talks with the anti-government armed militant groups.

The Afghan officials have long been criticizing Pakistan for allowing the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network to use its soil for planning and coordinating attacks in Afghanistan, calling it as one of the major barriers in forcing the militant groups to participate in talks.