ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has sent a clear message to Afghan Taliban that the only way forward with them is the negotiations with the Afghan Government in Kabul for the peace and prosperity in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has long been pressed by both United States and the Afghanistan government for bringing the warring faction to the negotiation table. Earlier quadrilateral dialogues and such other efforts could not be materialised despite sincere efforts by Pakistan.

Today Pakistani Ambassador in Washington Aizaz Chaudhry had clarified that Pakistan was not a friend of Taliban.

We had sent Taliban a clear message that for the peace and stability in Afghanistan they have to talk to the Afghan government. “We welcome peace negotiations of Afghan government with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,” he said.

The ambassador said that peace in Afghanistan was Pakistan’s highest priority. A stable, prosperous and developed Afghanistan was not only in the favour of Pakistan but the entire region.

USA has made massive investment in Afghanistan over the years and would be interested in taking it to its logical conclusion, he added.

“The first and foremost goal of the US in Afghanistan must be to strengthen Afghan National Security forces. Pakistan wants systematic border management along Pak-Afghan border in order to check the cross border movement of miscreants effectively,” he said.

Aizaz Chaudhry said that there was a tendency to put blame on Pakistan for failure in Afghanistan which was not true. Afghanistan had multiple problems which were not related to terrorism only, he said adding that Pakistan could not be made a scapegoat.