WASHINGTON – United States has welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan s desirefor peace with India and Afghanistan.

In a press conference in Washington, Head of the Bureau for South andCentral Asian Affairs at the State Department, Alice Wells said that mainobjective of the Trump administration s South Asia strategy is to restorepeace and stability in Afghanistan with the support of other regionalstates.

She said that Pakistan has a critical role to play in stabilization ofAfghanistan and the United States has encouraged Pakistan to take strongersteps to ensure that the Taliban either come to the negotiating table orare expelled back into Afghanistan.

Alice Wells said Pakistan and Afghanistan have embarked on efforts toimprove the bilateral relationship and Washington strongly supportsnegotiation of a solidarity document between the two countries.——————————

Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered to start a dialogue with archrivalIndia to resolve conflicts between the two nuclear armed nations, includingthe long-standing dispute over the Kashmir region.

Imran Khan in a tweet Tuesday said that in order to move forward on issuessuch as alleviating poverty, the South Asian neighbors must talk to eachother to solve their differences.

Khan also suggested trade agreements between the two countries as asolution to disputes. The development comes after Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in his congratulatory message to Khan expressed a desire fortalks.

Khan was sworn-in last week after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) partywon most seats in July elections and formed a coalition.