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Islamabad’s Envoy To U.S Says Peace Critical To Pakistan

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan newly appointed ambassador to the United States, said this week at the U.S institute of Peace in Washington that after clearing vast tracts of land of terrorists, his government is now focused on rooting them out in urban areas.

He said his country has come a long way in the fight against terrorism and are “clearing up vast territories bordering Afghanistan, which became home to many terrorists."

“Today the entire federally administrated areas have been cleared up.”

Chaudhry said the topic of Afghanistan was extremely important to Pakistan.

"There is full consensus in Pakistan that peace in Afghanistan is absolutely imperative to Pakistan."

He said instability in Afghanistan spills over into his country and that the security situation in Afghanistan "is not encouraging. It is not good."

He said Islamabad was concerned about a number of issues pertaining to Afghanistan, one of which is that only “60 percent of territory (in the country) is under government control.”

Chaudhry went on to say Islamabad was also worried that members of terrorist groups had rebranded themselves as Daesh in Afghanistan - which is a "source of huge concern for us particularly because the Daesh concentration is in the provinces bordering Pakistan, particularly in Nangarhar."

“While we have established peace on our side of the border, we don’t see corresponding stability on the other side of the border.”

He says Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the insecurity in Afghanistan but that Taliban should sit with the Afghan government so that both sides can come up with a peace strategy.

He said however that Pakistan is waiting for the U.S's new administration to announce its review on the situation in terms of moving forward.

He emphasized the fact that a military solution should not be the primary focus and that relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were of crucial importance and that both countries need to keep up dialogue with each other.

According to him there was no "hostile rhetoric" from his country towards Afghanistan and the two governments should talk with each other and work together on all levels.

On the issue of the Durand Line closure, he said the recent move to close gates was simply to stop the movement of terrorists flowing between the two countries.

"This border management does not mean sealing the border. We are trying to regulate the movement of those who are legitimate and bona fide travelers but that they (gates) are not open to terrorists or those with links to terrorism."

He also said there is a need for Afghan refugees to return home – pointing out that Pakistan had hosted over three million Afghan refugees for the past 37 years.  

"Conducive conditions should be created in Afghanistan for their return," he said.

Asked to explain Pakistan's recent border action against Afghanistan by Moeed Yusuf, Associate Vice President, Asia Center, UNIP, Chaudhry said: "There should be corresponding action from the other side (Afghanistan)."

He went on to say that Pakistan was building border control posts and that they would like Afghanistan to do the same - with the help of the U.S.

He reiterated his earlier statement that their action was to manage border crossings.

Islamabad’s Envoy To U.S Says Peace Critical To Pakistan

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said his country has come a long way in the fight against terrorism and that vast tracts of land have been cleared of insurgents.

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Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan newly appointed ambassador to the United States, said this week at the U.S institute of Peace in Washington that after clearing vast tracts of land of terrorists, his government is now focused on rooting them out in urban areas.

He said his country has come a long way in the fight against terrorism and are “clearing up vast territories bordering Afghanistan, which became home to many terrorists."

“Today the entire federally administrated areas have been cleared up.”

Chaudhry said the topic of Afghanistan was extremely important to Pakistan.

"There is full consensus in Pakistan that peace in Afghanistan is absolutely imperative to Pakistan."

He said instability in Afghanistan spills over into his country and that the security situation in Afghanistan "is not encouraging. It is not good."

He said Islamabad was concerned about a number of issues pertaining to Afghanistan, one of which is that only “60 percent of territory (in the country) is under government control.”

Chaudhry went on to say Islamabad was also worried that members of terrorist groups had rebranded themselves as Daesh in Afghanistan - which is a "source of huge concern for us particularly because the Daesh concentration is in the provinces bordering Pakistan, particularly in Nangarhar."

“While we have established peace on our side of the border, we don’t see corresponding stability on the other side of the border.”

He says Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the insecurity in Afghanistan but that Taliban should sit with the Afghan government so that both sides can come up with a peace strategy.

He said however that Pakistan is waiting for the U.S's new administration to announce its review on the situation in terms of moving forward.

He emphasized the fact that a military solution should not be the primary focus and that relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were of crucial importance and that both countries need to keep up dialogue with each other.

According to him there was no "hostile rhetoric" from his country towards Afghanistan and the two governments should talk with each other and work together on all levels.

On the issue of the Durand Line closure, he said the recent move to close gates was simply to stop the movement of terrorists flowing between the two countries.

"This border management does not mean sealing the border. We are trying to regulate the movement of those who are legitimate and bona fide travelers but that they (gates) are not open to terrorists or those with links to terrorism."

He also said there is a need for Afghan refugees to return home – pointing out that Pakistan had hosted over three million Afghan refugees for the past 37 years.  

"Conducive conditions should be created in Afghanistan for their return," he said.

Asked to explain Pakistan's recent border action against Afghanistan by Moeed Yusuf, Associate Vice President, Asia Center, UNIP, Chaudhry said: "There should be corresponding action from the other side (Afghanistan)."

He went on to say that Pakistan was building border control posts and that they would like Afghanistan to do the same - with the help of the U.S.

He reiterated his earlier statement that their action was to manage border crossings.

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