Pakistan rejects renewed US claim of supporting Taliban

Pakistan on Thursday dismissed Washington’s assertion that it had become a safe haven for the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Faisal said that Pakistan has welcomed all of Afghan initiatives geared towards bringing lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy: social media)

• Pakistan underscored its efforts to support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process
• Islamabad is “on notice,” said a senior US official

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday dismissed a renewed US claim that it has become a safe haven for the Afghan Taliban and has not lived up to its commitment to support sustainable peace efforts in Afghanistan.
US principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice G. Wells, on Wednesday warned estranged ally Pakistan that it was “on notice.” 
The US expects Islamabad’s “unequivocal cooperation ending sanctuaries that the Taliban have enjoyed since the remnants of their toppled regime fled into Pakistan in 2001,” she said.
“Despite some positive indicators, the (US) administration has not yet seen Pakistan take the sustained or decisive steps that it would have expected to see 10 months after the announcement of the South Asia strategy, including arresting or expelling Taliban elements who will not come to the negotiating table.”
In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammad Faisal told Arab News that his country “has welcomed all Afghan initiatives geared toward bringing lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
He said: “We support the Afghan government’s quest for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. We believe that it remains up to Afghans themselves to decide how they want to proceed with the matter.”
He added: “It should be an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process, not something for the Americans to decide.”
Last week, a high-level Pakistani delegation led by army chief Gen. Qamar Bajwa visited Kabul and held discussions with the Afghan leadership. 
“The two sides agreed to carry forward the bilateral relationship through the implementation of APAPPS (the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity), which is the most effective mechanism for furthering bilateral relations,” said Faisal.
Bajwa gave assurances of Pakistan’s commitment to support Kabul in its endeavor for a peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict, Faisal added.
The visit came a few days after the Taliban reciprocated Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s cease-fire offer.
The temporary truce, the first since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, lasted three days.
“There have been signs that the Taliban’s Pakistan-based leaders are debating the merits of joining a peace process,” but “the group has not responded to President Ghani’s offer of unconditional talks,” said Wells.
“If Afghan troops and Taliban foot-soldiers can pray together, then the Afghan people have every reason to believe that their leaders can come together and negotiate an end to this war.”
Citing an unnamed Afghan official, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday that top Afghan security officials were in Pakistan for talks on reviving the peace process with the Taliban. But Faisal said he was “unaware of such a visit.”
Security analyst Dr. Zafar Jaspal told Arab News: “Pakistan doesn’t have decisive leverage over the Taliban.” He rejected the US claim that the Taliban has sanctuaries in Pakistan.
“The Taliban has sanctuaries across Afghanistan, particularly in the south and east, so Islamabad has limited influence in the group’s decision-making process.”