Terror safe havens on Afghan side the real concern: Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan is extremely concerned about safe havens of terrorists who are mostly operating from ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan which are more than 40 percent of the total area of the country.

At his interaction with US and foreign media at the Pakistan Embassy late Thursday night, the minister said a number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in recent months have been traced back to these elements operating from these bases in Afghanistan.

"On our part, we have completely wiped out all the hideouts used by terrorists and anti-state elements. However, this is an ongoing process with continuing intelligence-based operations by law enforcement agencies across the country," he said. "We have offered candid cooperation to Afghanistan during the recent visit of COAS and foreign secretary to Kabul where they had successful and productive meetings with President Ashraf Ghani, CEO Abdullah Abdullah and others in the Afghan hierarchy," he added. The foreign minister said Pakistan believes that unless there is stability in Afghanistan, the dividends of peace in the region would continue to elude. "To achieve that goal both US and Pakistan need to work closely," he stressed.

"I would like to reiterate that Pakistan will continue to play its positive role in bringing peace to the region through measures agreed upon by all relevant stakeholders. We believe that a political approach characterized by an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process will yield durable peace in the interest of Afghanistan and the broader region."

He said, "In our renewed efforts towards establishing regional peace, we hope that the international media, particularly the US media, will play a positive role and reflect Pakistan's changing realities in its reporting." He also invited the media luminaries gathered there to visit Pakistan with a view to acquiring a first-hand experience of the fast changing reality in the country.

The minister said Pakistan greatly values its relationship with the US in the seven-decade long history of result-oriented cooperation. "We want to build a relationship founded on mutual respect. We firmly believes that through consistent, structured and constructive engagement, at political and diplomatic levels, both the countries can continue to work together for the common goal of peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia."

"We also see enormous investment and business opportunities in Pakistan for corporate America, particularly after Pakistan's remarkable successes in war against terror and significant reduction in terrorist incidents in the country," he said.

Source: http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/07-Oct-17/terror-safe-havens-on-afghan-side-the-real-concern-pakistan