PM Imran vows to help US in finding peaceful solution to Afghan war

KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan renewed Tuesday his resolve to help US in finding the peaceful solution to  18-year old Afghan war.Prime minister made the remarks during his address to Pakistan Caucus at the Capitol Hill, reiterating Pakistan’s abiding interest in achieving peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through political settlement. PM Imran vowed to cooperate with the United States to achieve a political settlement with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.PM said: "The whole country is standing behind me, the Pakistan army and all security forces are behind me." He added, "our objective is same as US right now; to find a peaceful solution as quickly as possible in Afghanistan.” PM said that his main objective of US visit was to make the people in US have better understanding  of Pakistan, adding, "Pakistan is misunderstood here, specifically in  the last 15 years  when the  war on terror was being fought in Afghanistan  and on the borders of Pakistan."He said: "We had 70000 people dying in this war on terror and we had  billions and billions of dollars lost  to our economy. We were  fighting US war as we had nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaida was in Afghanistan and there was no militants in Pakistan."“It was partly a fault of previous Pakistani governments who did not apprise US of the actual situation. That in order to “Do More” & help US win this war. He said  Pakistan was fighting for its own existence at that time,” said Khan.“Pakistan has been an ally of US since CETO & CENTO in 1950s. I hope that once again our relationship has been restored on basis of common interests,” said PM Khan.PM said that his government was committed to rebuild the relationship on the basis of mutual trust and mutual respect.Upon invitation of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Chairperson of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, PM Khan attended a Reception by Senators & Members House of Representatives at the Capitol Hill.Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Ms Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also joined the event.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2Z9GxjN