Mark Sidwell says that U.K wants Pakistan to retain peace with the Haqqani network

Mark Sidwell says that U.K wants Pakistan to retain peace with the Haqqani network

Urging Pakistan to use its influence to get the Haqqani network to come to the negotiation table with NATO and enter a reconciliation process, British Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Mark Sedwill said, “We don’t
want Pakistan to take military action against the Haqqani group. We understand the challenges it faces on that front, all we want from Pakistan is to do its utmost to minimise the threat.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has already made that offer to the Haqqani network and it is in Pakistan’s strategic interest to play its role, Sedwill said while speaking to The Express Tribune, adding that Pakistan is absolutely
clear that a stable Afghanistan is in the country’s strategic interest.

Sedwill, who has held discussions on security issues with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, said the outcome of the discussions
with his Pakistani counterparts was “encouraging”.

Appreciating Pakistan’s role as the frontline state in terms of loss of human lives, and with Islamabad’s already debilitating economy on one hand and drone attacks on the other, Sedwill said it is in Pakistan’s interest to realise
that insurgency in the country would end only once there is enduring stability in Afghanistan.

Regarding Pakistan’s apprehensions about the political vacuum that might leave Afghanistan prone to another takeover by radical and criminal groups, he said, “We don’t want to see that part of history repeated.”

Najibullah’s regime survived three years after the Soviet withdrawal because of Moscow’s continued economic support, Sedwill said, adding that was why NATO forces wouldn’t withdraw abruptly and would ensure continued funding to
maintain economic and military sustainability.

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Posted by Hamza Jahangir on Nov 25 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry