Pakistan doesn't want terrorism, violence in Afghanistan, says Aizaz

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry says Pakistan is bearing the brunt of unrest in Afghanistan. 

In an interview, he said Pakistan did not want any violence and terrorism in Afghanistan and condemned terrorist attacks.

The ambassador said Pakistan was the only country that will benefit the most apart from the people of Afghanistan if peace returned to the war-torn country.

He said Islamabad had never condoned terrorism and extremism under any circumstance.

Aizaz said Pakistan would like to have good relations with the US and the two countries had worked together for seven decades.

Highlighting the significance of better relations between the two countries, he said whenever both the countries had jointly worked towards achieving the common goal of eradicating terrorism, their efforts bore fruits.

He said Pakistan believed in a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual trust. Any rupture in ties between Washington and Islamabad would be a big mistake, he opined.

The ambassador stressed the need that all stakeholders would have to be a part of the Afghan peace process.

Apart from terrorism, he said, Afghanistan was reeling from the issues of drug trade, corruption and bad governance.

Pakistan’s security forces had tightened noose around terrorists, who were fleeing the country, he said adding that this was a message to the Taliban to come to negotiating table.

Commenting on the economic conditions of Pakistan, Aizaz said the country’s economy was getting better.