Pakistan assures soil not to be used against Afghanistan

Pakistan's top foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said Sunday that he had assured Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used against its neighboring Afghanistan, according local reports here.

Aziz met with the Afghan president on the sidelines of the Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia -- Istanbul process in the Indian city of Amritsar.

The Pakistani adviser also defended his participation in the conference despite some domestic suggestions to stay away as India had boycotted regional summit that was planned to be held in Islamabad in November.

"My participation in the event, despite escalation on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary with India, is testimony to Pakistan's unflinching commitment for lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region. I look forward to meaningful deliberations today towards this objective," he said on his arrival from India.

He said although he had not held any formal meeting with Indian leaders, he had informal interaction with some Indian officials during the conference.

Aziz described as balanced the Amritsar Declaration issued at the end of the two-day conference and said it covered all the main issues discussed during the deliberations. He said the tradition of blame game should be ended as all countries need cooperation to counter serious security challenges in the region.

He said Pakistan deeply values the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process as the forum is making important contribution in the efforts to promote Afghanistan's connectivity with neighboring and regional countries for durable stability in Afghanistan.

Pakistan had co-hosted the conference in Islamabad last December that had paved the way for the launch of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

"The government and people of Pakistan stand in complete solidarity with the elected government and people of Afghanistan in furthering the objective of peace, stability and development in Afghanistan. We would do whatever we can to help achieve this objective," the advisor said.

He welcomed the signing of the peace agreement between the Afghan government and Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan, saying that the implementation of this peace deal can serve as a model for talks with other insurgent groups in future.

He said Pakistan has been making serious efforts for facilitating the peace talks through the QCG, adding that all members of the QCG should continue their respective efforts for talks between the Afghan government and Taliban.

"In our view, there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and all our efforts should be to achieve a politically negotiated settlement through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process," the adviser said. Enditem