Pakistan stands with the people of Afghanistan – army chief

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said the South Asian nation stood with the people of Afghanistan, as the Taliban, fighting since their 2001 ouster to expel foreign forces, seized Kabul last week after a lightning offensive.
The Taliban have said they want peace, will not take revenge against old enemies and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law. But thousands of Afghans, many of whom helped the now withdrawing US-led foreign forces over two decades, are desperate to leave.
Pakistan has so far said its recognition of Taliban rule would be a regional and international — not a unilateral — decision.
The army chief, in a meeting with an eight-member Afghan delegation, “reiterated that Pakistan stands with people of Afghanistan,” the army’s media wing said in a statement on Tuesday.
The multi-ethnic delegation is visiting Pakistan to discuss the situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
“Detailed discussion was held about current situation in Afghanistan,” the army said. “COAS [army chief] said that Pakistan desires broad-based relations with Afghanistan and willing to do everything possible to help Afghanistan achieve an all-inclusive settlement which is vital for regional peace and prosperity.”
As they consolidate power, the Taliban have said one of their leaders and co-founders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, had returned to Afghanistan for the first time in more than 10 years.
Baradar was arrested in Pakistan in 2010, but released from prison in 2018 at the request of former US President Donald Trump’s administration so he could participate in peace talks.
As he was returning, a Taliban spokesman held the movement’s first news briefing since their return to Kabul, suggesting they would impose their laws more softly than during their earlier time in power, between 1996-2001.

Pakistan stands with the people of Afghanistan – army chief