Pakistan continues to support Taliban: Afghan leader

WASHINGTON: Pakistan continues to support the Taliban and there has been no change in its policy despite the formation of the new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, a top Afghan leader has said.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday that for the peace and the talks to get serious, a few things are required.

He said that there was a need to pursuade those who support the Taliban.

"One is that those who are supporting Taliban need to be persuaded and convinced or persuaded that they should stop support. And one country is key to that, which is Pakistan," Abdullah said in response to a question.

He pointed out that even after the formation of the new government in Pakistan the "real change has not taken place as far as their policy" towards Taliban is concerned.

"In the past they have made promises that they will bring the reconcilable Taliban to the negotiating table and put pressure on others. We have seen none in that sense. But still we are hopeful," he said.

Abdullah, however, said that Afghanistan will continue to engage with Pakistan hoping that Islamabad will understand that such groups won't serve any country's interest.

"With Pakistan, we will continue our engagement with them with the hope that they will be convinced that these groups, the groups which are using ideology, but at the same time terror tactics and violence and killing civilians, will not serve any country's interests," he said.

"If there is one lesson in the past three decades, that is that these groups have their own agendas. At the end of the day, they will pursue their own agenda rather than the agendas of the countries or country which has helped them," Abdullah said.

He stated that India was for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.

"India has been supporting Afghanistan in the past seventeen years and also when we were in the resistance against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. They were on the side of the resistance or official government of Afghanistan," Abdullah said.

"They have continued with the same policy. And their offer to us is that you tell us your needs, we will see in the realm of our possibilities that how we can help, because stability in Afghanistan is in their interest, not insecurity in our country," added the top Afghan leader.