ISLAMABAD (Naeem Mustafa) – Pakistan has demanded the Trump administrationto play a neutral role regarding the Kashmir conflict for helping therelease of three US hostages in Afghanistan.
The US President made a telephone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan a fewdays ago and stressed Islamabad to play its role in getting the hostagesreleased.
Well-placed sources confided to Daily Pakistan that the US President got intouch with Pakistan’s premier while he was at his Bani Gala residence.
Since the US President wanted an official secret call, he requested PrimeMinister Khan to make the contact on the official number of the PM Officefollowing which Imran Khan rushed to the PM House and had a conversationwith Trump.
In his discussions, the US President said that the Taliban had held hostagethe American envoys in a hilly area near Kabul, emphasizing the need fortheir early release.
Sources disclosed that the Afghan peace Process can also be suspended owingto the issue of American hostages. They say Pakistan’s Prime Ministerassured Trump that measures would be taken in this regard.
As Trump brought up the issue of hostages, Premier Imran Khan diverted theattention of US President towards the Kashmir crisis.
Sources said Imran Khan highlighted, in point-blank remarks, that Pakistanwas a nuclear country and a desire for peace should not be taken as itsweakness.
Imran Khan told Trump that Islamabad was not desirous of initiating anywar, however, if India continues to execute its nefarious designs, Pakistanwould be compelled to take extreme measures.
To this, Trump shared that he had earlier offered to act as a mediatorbetween the two countries on the issue of Kashmir, assuring that the USwould play its role to ensure regional peace.
It is also being rumored that after the discussions with US president,Prime Minister Imran Khan directed constitution of a five-member delegationwhich would head to Afghanistan for negotiations with the Taliban to securethe release of US officials.
In his official visit to the US, Prime Minister Imran Khan had assured thatthe hostages would be released soon, falling short of giving a timeline inthis regard.