WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of tensions between Washington and Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted Tuesday that both sides are now on the same page and said he will do everything in his power to convince the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government to resolve the war. The United States has engaged with the Taliban, but so far the militia has refused to speak directly to the Afghan government, which it sees as a puppet. Afghans are wary of Pakistan’s involvement in making a future for their country, but Khan said the Taliban needs to participate in Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential elections in September.
“It’s not easy. It’s not going to be easy,” Khan said of getting the Taliban and the Afghan government to sit down to negotiate. HELP US Click on the Google News star and follow usKhan said that the Taliban delegation asked to meet with him a few months ago because, perhaps, the prime minister has stated that there is no solution involving military forces in Afghanistan. He added that at the time he did not do so because the Afghan government did not want him to meet with the Taliban.However, Khan noted that he has spoken to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and will seek the militia when he returns to Pakistan. On Monday, he met with U.S. President Donald Trump.” Now, I will meet with the Taliban and do everything in my power to get them to talk to the Afghan government,” Khan said at the Peace Institute in Washington. “Elections in Afghanistan must be inclusive in which the Taliban also participates.” With all the talk about peace negotiations, Afghans were annoyed Monday when Trump said he could send the U.S. Army and erase Afghanistan “off the face of the Earth” in a week or 10 days. Trump’s comments were spotted with alarm because the war has not been between the United States and Afghanistan. For years, Afghan security forces have fought alongside their U.S. and NATO partners against Ghani’s Talibán.La office in Kabul asked Trump on Tuesday to clarify his comment and stated that Afghanistan will never “allow a foreign power determine your future.”
