Karachi: Thomas West, US State Department Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary, held an interview today in Washington in which he discussed some serious matters concerning Tehreek – e – Taliban (TTP) Afghanistan and Pakistan.
West shows his concern for Pakistan by saying that Pakistan has been dealing with attacks from TTP and it is a great concern.
West also mentioned that he had a stay in Pakistan for two and a half days. During that stay he met Islamabad authorities and discussed mutual interests of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also discussed his concerns with the Minister of the State on Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani.
“It was a pleasure to speak with security and civilian officials in Islamabad,” he added about his stay in Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan is an important partner to US and the two countries will continue to work together in the future.
Furthermore, he thanked Pakistan for hosting Afghan Refugees on his country’s behalf for 40 years.
“The [increase in] attacks led by banned TTP is a challenge that Pakistan has been dealing with,” he said sharing his concern.
When discussing the matters regarding partnership between US and Taliban, West said that “I don’t believe that there will be any practical partnership between the US and Taliban.”
However, he did say that US doesn’t need a third party to intervene in this matter because there are US officials that are in direct contact with the Taliban group.
He also gave details and shared that there has been a meeting between American officials and Afghan Taliban in a personal capacity in Doha.
“I believe that there should be a direct dialogue,” he said.
West pointed out the matters that were discussed in that meeting. He said that topic of discussion was regarding terrorism, Taliban’s fight against the Daesh group and the situation of AL Qaeda.
“The US expressed concerns regarding the human rights in Afghanistan in talks with the Taliban,” said West.
West also mentioned the name of former Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al- Zawahiri, and said that Taliban’s harbouring of him was a clear violation of the Doha agreement.
In his statement, he stated that World Bank has made an effort to provide $1.5 billion to the Afghan people.
