Pakistan’s stability linked to Afghan peace: Hoti

NOWSHERA: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said that stability in Pakistan is linked to the restoration of peace in Afghanistan.

Talking to reporters here, he said the Afghan government, Taliban and other stakeholders must join hands to help bring peace to the war-torn country.

“War is not the solution to any problem. All sides to this conflict should sit at the negotiating table and talk out the issues,” he maintained.

Haider Hoti said Afghanistan had been in conflict for the last four decades, adding that the withdrawal of the US and Nato forces had paved the way for the civil war in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan could descend into civil war if talks are not held,” he feared. However, he said that the talks should be all-inclusive to bring peace to the country.

He said the Pakhtun nationalist leaders Bacha Khan and Abdul Wali Khan had predicted 40 years back that Pakhtuns on both sides of the border would bear the brunt of the violence.

Haider Hoti said that the people were fed with the rulers. He said that the defeat of the government candidates in the by-election showed that rulers had lost the trust of the people.

The government, he said, had added to the woes of the people. He said that the PTI government failed on all fronts and could not provide relief to the people.