Pakistan wants US military forces to continue presence in Afghanistan: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants the military forces of the United States to continue with their presence in Afghanistan till completion of the agenda of peace, said Foreign Office spokesperson at a weekly press briefing here.

When asked if Pakistan’s stance could invite the ire of Taliban, he said Pakistan in fact did not want to experience the same chaos as it did after the USSR abruptly left Afghanistan in late 90s.

He said the presence of American and other allied forces in Afghanistan were under the mandate given by the United Nations.

He said China and Pakistan had initiated cooperation on fighting against corruption.

China had assured the government of Pakistan of supporting its agenda of fighting corruption during a recent meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Minister for International Development of Communist Party of China Song Tao here in Islamabad, said the FO spokesperson.

To a question whether Pakistan would conform to the Chinese model of anti-corruption, the Spokesman said National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) would be dealing the matter.

“I can confirm you that politically Pakistan and China are actively cooperating in fight against terrorism,” he added.

Minister of International Development of Communist Party of China (CPC) Song Tao had assured Prime Minister Imran Khan China’s support in addressing the agenda of poverty alleviation, fighting corruption and agricultural development.

Assuring China’s support to Pakistan at all regional and international for a three days ago, he underscored the importance attached by the leadership and people of China to Pakistan-China relations.

Song Tao said that exchanges between political parties would help in sharing ideas to achieve common and shared development. He termed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative, which would make significant contributions towards building a ‘New Pakistan’.