Washington: US broadcasting agency has claimed that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a separate meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa during her visit to Pakistan.
In line with US media, the purpose of the discussion was to step up peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government and speed up the endeavors of counter-terrorism at the regional level.
Pakistan believes in the Afghan-led peace process and deems reconciliation the only tool for ending the war while US Secretary of State has told Pakistan that if it fails to take "decisive" actions against terror groups, Washington will "adjust" its tactics and strategies to achieve the objective in a "different way".
According to the voice of America, that Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the meeting between the two was ‘candid, frank and without mincing words’.
DG ISPR said the COAS emphasized on cooperation and not on coercive tactics.
DG ISPR said that Pakistan has contributed a lot to enduring regional peace and stability, and keeping Pakistan’s interest supreme.
Pakistan doesn’t have safe havens on its soil and the security forces have brought an end to militancy within the country, he said.
The report said that Pakistani officials maintained that the US continues the use of hard power, ‘despite knowing the policy has not worked during the past 16 years’.
US President Donald Trump in his latest Afghan strategy has approved more military deployments in support of the Afghan forces against the Taliban.
The US media said that the Pakistani officials stated that Afghanistan and the US need to offer the Taliban a peace process first, relying on the 'Qatar office' of the militants.
The policy would help weed out the ones, not in favor of a dialogue and help refocus priorities against the ‘irreconcilables’ the report said.
It is vital to mention here that Tillerson during his visit also met with the civil-military leadership of the country including Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Tillerson stayed in the country for four hours and had a discussion on regional counterterrorism efforts, while the endorsement of peace talks between the Afghan government and warring Taliban also came under discussion.
The recent US-Pakistan meeting of officials did not help bridge the gap on the issue of Afghan peace process and how to make the first move.
Pakistan reiterated that the Afghan government has a lot to do in terms of creating a conducive environment for a dialogue.
