ISLAMABAD, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani academics and former officials have reiterated that military solution to situation in Afghanistan will not work and all stakeholders must encourage having talks with the Taliban.
Former Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Lieutenant General Muhammad Zaheer UL Islam, in a seminar on Thursday held by the Center for Global and Strategic Studies, stressed the need for a political settlement in Afghanistan, saying that the engagement with the Taliban in talks would put an end to ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The academics and former officials said that peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interests, and no one wishes peace in Afghanistan like Pakistan does.
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States said "this is why Pakistan had joined the United States and the world as frontline state in war against terrorism and suffered a lot."
U.S. President Donald Trump released his policy for South Asia last year, saying that the United States "can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations," trigerring anger from the Pakistani side.
On the ongoing woes between Islamabad and Washington, Qazi said if the two could work together, they can easily sort out all the disputes.
Zamir Akram, Pakistan's former ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, said that Pakistan should further cement its bonding with other regional powers such as Iran and Russia so as to balance U.S. and Indian influence in the region.
