Pompeo urges neighbours to back Afghan peace talks

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit, stressing the need for neighbouring countries to support Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s effort to start peace talks with the Taliban, according to a transcript released in Washington.
Pompeo, who was greeted by Chief of Staff Abdul Salam Rahimi when he arrived at Gul Khanna presidential palace in Kabul for a meeting with Ghani, said the US not only supported the proposed talks but was also willing to participate.
But he clarified that the peace process would be Afghan-led and the US would only participate to help resolve differences and encourage Afghan­istan’s neighbours to support the process as well.
“We’re counting on all the actors in the region to be supportive. The Pakist­anis, too, need to understand that we need to have a set of elections [in Afghanistan] that do not have violence,” he said. “We’re counting on all the actors in the region to support this process and make sure the Afghan people can have their voices heard during these elections,” he added.
“We have seen good signs from lots of regional partners,” he said, repeating what his senior aide, Prin­ci­pal Deputy Assistant Secre­tary Alice Wells, earlier said in Islamabad last week.
Wells, who heads the bu­­r­eau for South and Central Asian affairs at the US State Department, said at a news briefing in Washing­ton this week, “It’s critical that Pakistan and Afghan­istan have improved relations in order to reinforce what has to be a unified effort to achieve reconciliation in the region. And we would like to see those steps extended to more vigorous counterterrorism effort on behalf of the Pakistani government.”
In Kabul, Ghani said at a joint news conference with Pompeo that all sides involved in the effort to promote the peace talks need to move with caution. “If we think only in one day a 40-year-crisis can be ended we are being unrealistic,” he said.
Pompeo’s visit to Kabul, which followed a tour of Asian countries, was his first to Afghanistan since he became secretary of state in April.