Pakistan cannot be scapegoated for failures in Afghanistan: Aizaz Chaudhry

LOS ANGELES: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has said that Pakistan desires good relations with the US and it cannot be scapegoated for the failures of “others” in Afghanistan, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

During his speech on Pakistan-US relations at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the ambassador noted that peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s own interest but it would remain elusive by the pursuit of a purely military solution as political reconciliation is the only option to move forward.

Aizaz Chaudhry maintained that the US-Pakistan relations should not be held hostage to the situation in Afghanistan as “drifting away from each other would not be in the interest of either country”.

“Both countries had benefited whenever they had worked together. Therefore, it was imperative that they continue to work together to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region, despite strained ties due to divergent approaches,” said Aizaz Chaudhry.

The ambassador assured the audience that there are no safe havens of terrorists in Pakistan due to the remarkable success of military operations in the tribal areas conducted by Pakistani security forces in the last three years.

Faculty members and students of UCLA as well as local Pakistani American community representatives attended the event.