September 29, 2020
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), during his visit to Islamabad stressed the need to seize the historic opportunity for peaceful settlement of the Afghan quagmire. These comments came while the top Afghan leader was addressing a conference at Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), attended by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi among other dignitaries.
While sharing his views, the Chairman cautioned against the potential spoilers of the peace process and urged to move beyond the hackneyed pleasantries by finding new approaches for peace. This according to him, can be achieved only through admitting past mistakes and charting clearly out of troubled waters. There are no winners in war and no losers in a peaceful settlement and now that the ice has been broken, continuing the peace effort until its successful conclusion is a shared responsibility of all, remarked the leader.
The Chairman also expressed his confidence in the beginning of a new era of bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, based on mutual respect and sincere cooperation, ensuring prosperity for all. At another occasion, the Afghan leader while meeting the Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, also acknowledged the latter’s keen interest and active involvement in facilitating across the border movement of both people and goods, aimed at strengthening the ties between the two states.
The report is compiled by Tooba Altaf – an International Relations’ graduate, while working as a Researcher at Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
