09 July 2016

News Story: Pakistan seeks NATO backing for Afghan peace process

ISLAMABAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Friday pushed the NATO to throw weight behind efforts for political negotiations to find out solution to the Afghan conflict.

Pakistan's top foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, issued the appeal as NATO opens a two-day summit in Warsaw that will also review the security situation in Afghanistan and make decisions on the presence of its troops.

After U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement this week to extend the presence of 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan through next year, NATO is likely to make a similar decision on its troops. NATO has some 6,000 troops at present.

"We expect that as we intensify our efforts to facilitate the peace process in Afghanistan, they will also capitalize on the dividends of these counter-terrorism operations to facilitate this process," Aziz said in a statement regarding the July 8-9 NATO Summit in Warsaw.

Aziz's statement is important as the U.S. and NATO allies have not yet taken any substantial steps to promote the reconciliation with the Taliban insurgents.

Read the full story at Xinhua