Afghanistan key to regional stability: Pakistan Army chief

In this file photo, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, looks on during a seminar on Chinese investment at The Engineering University of Khuzdar in Khuzdar some 200km north of Karachi on Jan. 5, 2017. (AFP)

ISLAMABAD: The path to regional peace and stability goes through Afghanistan, Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Tuesday.
Pakistan has eliminated terrorist sanctuaries on its soil, and remaining extremist elements are being tracked and targeted in the ongoing Radd-ul-Fasaad operation, he told a high-profile security conference in Kabul.
Such elements have taken advantage of the presence of 2.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he added.
Pakistan will not allow anyone to use its soil against another state, and it expects the same from its neighbors, Bajwa said.
The conference was organized less than a month after a series of deadly attacks in Kabul, and the subsequent visit of a high-level Afghan delegation to Islamabad. The conference included representatives from the US, NATO, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Bajwa emphasized a collaborative approach to dealing with regional security challenges. He urged persistence, and said Pakistan is ready to play its role.