On Wednesday the Afghan Taliban declared that, according to a report, they would not talk with Kabul till the president Ashraf Ghaani remained.
The Premier spoke to international journalists and recalled his encounter with a Taliban team that came 3-4 months ago in Pakistan.
PM Imran Khan claimed he attempted to convince the Taliban for peace at that point. He recognised that under the existing conditions, a political settlement would be difficult.
“The prerequisite is that we (Taliban) are not talking to the Afghan Government as long as Ashraf Ghani remains there,” Khan added, adding it was conveyed by the Taliban delegation.
He added that the Afghan Government now tried to guarantee that the US government intervenes on their behalf. The Prime Minister remarked.
“Two decades… what are they going to do now that they haven’t been here for 20 years?” he inquired.
Khan said Pakistan had “made it very plain” that, once US soldiers left Afghanistan, it did not want to have any military outposts on its land.