Top Pak-US military commanders discuss situation in Kashmir, Afghanistan

Generals Kenneth McKenzie, fourth left, and Qamar Javed Bajwa, third right, lead delegation level talks between the United States and Pakistan on Sept. 9, 2019. (ISPR)

• The meeting focused on geostrategic environment and regional security, says ISPR
• The interaction between the two officials comes soon after President Trump called off negotiations with the Taliban

ISLAMABAD: United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Chief General Kenneth McKenzie held a meeting with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday to discuss the regional security situation and the ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan.
According to an official statement by the military’s media wing, ISPR, the meeting focused on “geostrategic environment and regional security,” and the two sides discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
The meeting came at a time when tensions have once again flared up between the two South Asian nuclear-armed neighbors, India and Pakistan, after New Delhi revoked the limited constitutional autonomy of the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir region on August 5.
India’s rightwing Hindu nationalist government also confined the residents of the disputed Himalayan region to their homes, clamped down on local leadership and imposed a near-total communications blackout in the area.
Apart from the situation in Kashmir, there has also been upsurge of violence in Afghanistan: The war-torn country has witnessed a breakdown of talks between the United States and Taliban, though the two sides were said to be close to a peace deal.
Pakistan’s foreign office in a statement on Sunday urged the US and Taliban to re-engage in peace negotiations.
“Pakistan has been facilitating the peace and reconciliation process in good faith and as a shared responsibility, and has encouraged all sides to remain engaged with sincerity and patience,” the statement said.
“Pakistan reiterates its principled policy stance that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and urges that both sides must re-engage to find negotiated peace from the ongoing political settlement process. Pakistan looks for optimized engagement following earliest resumption of talks,” it added.
On September 7, Pakistan hosted the third round of China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Trilateral Dialogue in Islamabad in which the three top diplomats of the participating countries reiterated their resolve to further deepen various strands of cooperation.