ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON – Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi andUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the prospects of the twocountries cooperating to support the peace process in Afghanistan, StateDepartment spokesperson Ned price said on Friday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Pakistani ForeignMinister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and underscored the shared desire for astable and sustainable bilateral relationship,” Price said in a statement.
“The Secretary and the Foreign Minister discussed the importance ofcontinued US-Pakistan cooperation on the Afghanistan peace processfollowing the visit to the United States by Afghan President Ghani andChairman Abdullah.”
As US forces are expected to complete the withdrawal process by August 31,the Biden administration has been calling on Afghanistan’s neighboringcountries to play a bigger role in ensuring the stability of the war-torncountry.
Meanwhile, Taliban have claimed to control at least 85 per cent ofAfghanistan as they gain ground in a major offensive amid the finalwithdrawal of US troops.
Spokesman Shahabuddin Delawar told a press conference in Moscow that thethe group had seized some 250 of the country’s 398 districts.
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Government forces have been easily defeated by Taliban fighters and morethan 1,000 Afghan troops fled into Tajikistan earlier this week.
The armed movement insisted that it will not take provincial capitals byforce but said that the peace deal it signed with the United States inFebruary 2020, which the Afghan government was not party to, leaves it freeto attack administrative centres.
The Afghan government, on the other hand, pledged to retake control of allterritory overrun by the Taliban.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden said he does not believe it is inevitablethat the Afghan government will fall to the Taliban after the US leavesAfghanistan. The US president said he trusts Afghan security forces havethe capacity to prevent a civil war, adding that the Afghan people mustcontrol their own fate.
