PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Thursday underscored the need for all-inclusive peace talks among the stakeholders in order to bring stability to Afghanistan.

According to a statement issued from Watan Kor here, he was talking to a delegation from Afghanistan that called on him at his residence. The delegation was led by Mohammad Omar Daudzai, who is special envoy of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for peace progress and contacts with regional countries.

Mr Sherpao assured the delegation that the QWP would spare no efforts to help bring peace to the region, particularly Afghanistan.

Afghan delegation led by special envoy calls on Sherpao

“We will contribute to the peace talks and do all in our power to restore peace,” he said, adding that terrorism was the biggest threat to regional peace and security. He maintained that the government and all political parties were on the same page to facilitate the peace talks as Afghans had suffered greatly during the decades of war.

Welcoming the ongoing peace talks, the QWP chief said that it was a good opportunity to restore peace in the war-torn country. “The peace talks should be taken to logical end and must not be left halfway,” he stressed and cautioned that the talks might not achieve the desired results if an all-inclusive approach was not adopted to include the Afghan government in the parleys.

Calling for a negotiated settlement of the Afghan imbroglio, Mr Sherpao said that war was not the solution to stalemate in Afghanistan. He maintained that people of Pakistan and Afghanistan had been exposed to untold miseries and therefore concerted efforts should be made to bring an end to the sufferings of people. He urged Islamabad to help bring all sides to the negotiating table.

PAKHTUNS UNITY: Qaumi Watan Party has invited all the nationalist forces to unite on a single platform to devise a joint strategy for ensuring protection of Pakhtuns’ rights.

As part of the QWP’s ongoing campaign in this regard, it has written a letter to Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan, which was handed over to his party’s provincial general secretary MPA Sardar Hussain Babak by QWP leaders Tariq Ahmed and Asad Afridi advocate.

According to a statement issued here on Thursday, ANP office-bearers Khadija Sardar and Irum Fatima were also present on the occasion.

The QWP hoped that the ANP leadership would accelerate its efforts for protection of Pakhtuns’ rights and get the Pakhtuns nation rid of the prevailing crisis. It appreciated the ANP chief for welcoming Mr Sherpao’s proposal for Pakhtun unity.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2019