Afghan peace process at critical stage: Pakistan

Pakistan on Thursday said the Afghanistan peace process was at a critical stage, and that the intra-Afghan dialogue should begin soon to resolve pending issues. For sustainable peace to prevail in Afghanistan, it is important to reach out to all the stakeholders and parties,” he said..

Pakistan on Thursday said the Afghanistan peace process was at a critical stage, and that the intra-Afghan dialogue should begin soon to resolve pending issues. Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said Pakistan consistently maintained its position that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict.

"We believe the peace process has reached a critical stage that was never achieved before. There are some residual issues and we hope that these issues will also be resolved and intra-Afghan dialogue will commence without further delay," he said. The spokesman said China has an important role in the peace process.

"We have talked to all stakeholders that are involved in the Afghan conflict. The Peace Agreement between the USA and Taliban is recognition of the fact that they are a party to the conflict. For sustainable peace to prevail in Afghanistan, it is important to reach out to all the stakeholders and parties," he said.