Political settlement in Afghanistan looking difficult now: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan said that a political settlement in Afghanistan was looking difficult under current conditions.

Talking to foreign journalists at his home in Islamabad on Wednesday, he said that he had tried to persuade Taliban leaders when they were visiting Pakistan to reach a settlement.

“The condition is that as long as Ashraf Ghani is there, we (Taliban) are not going to talk to the Afghan government,” he quoted the Taliban leaders as telling him.

PM Imran Khan said that the Afghan government was accusing Pakistan of its weaknesses. "No one is our favourite. We are ready to work with any government coming in Afghanistan," he maintained.

He said that Pakistan had 'made it very clear' that it did not want any American military bases in Pakistan after US forces exit Afghanistan. "Pakistan is just considered only to be useful in the context of somehow settling this mess which has been left behind by the US after 20 years of trying to find a military solution when there was not one.”

The prime minister said that Pakistan had 'made it very clear' that it did not want any American military bases in Pakistan after US forces exit Afghanistan.

He said that he thinks that the Americans have decided that India is their strategic partner now. "I think that’s why there is a different way of treating Pakistan now.”