Afghan Peace Conference Postponed: Foreign Office

The Foreign Office had said that Afghan Peace Conference being hosted by Pakistan had been postponed.

The Afghan peace conference which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad from July 17-19 has been postponed until Eid-ul-Adha.

“The new dates of the conference will be announced later”, said the Foreign Office. The conference was delayed after President Ashraf Ghani, reportedly in his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Afghan President criticized Pakistan for its supposed support of Taliban in Afghan.

Another reason for the conference to be postponed is that some of the invited Afghan leaders were travelling to Doha for a meeting with the Taliban.

Earlier, Pakistan on Thursday said it would host a three-day conference with Afghanistan as an effort to bring peace in the war-battered country as was confirmed by Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry.

The Foreign Office spokesperson also clarified that the Taliban were not among the invitees as they had already visited Pakistan many times and held discussions on the peace process.

The Afghan Vice President, Amrullah Saleh said that Pakistan provided aerial support to the Taliban mutineers. “Pakistan Air Force has issued an official warning to the Afghan Army and Air Force that any move to dislodge the Taliban from Spin Boldak area will be faced and repelled by the Pakistan Air Force. Pak Air Force is now providing close air support to Taliban in certain areas,” Saleh had tweeted.

The Foreign Office spokesperson said that Afghanistan is a neighboring country and any situation in Afghanistan will directly impact Pakistan, thus Pakistan is always striving for peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has also given refuge to millions of Afghan refugees and has hosted them for decades.

The Focal person also clarified that Afghan government had requested Pakistan to carry out air operations in the Chaman side territory of the country, to which Pakistan showed a positive response. However, measures were taken on Pakistani side to safeguard our “troops and population”.

It was also made clear that the Pakistan Air Force never communicated anything to the Afghan Air Force.