Pakistan calls for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan

NEW YORK: A negotiated peace in Afghanistan was the best and only hope for stability and prosperity for the country and the entire region, said Pakistan Ambassador to United Nations Maleeha Lodhi while speaking in the Security Council debate on Afghanistan. Lodhi said it was gratifying that the international community had reached a firm consensus that a political settlement was the only way to achieve peace in Afghanistan. This, she emphasised, what Pakistan had consistently advocated and recommended to end the decade-old war and suffering endured by the Afghan people. Peace in Afghanistan, she reaffirmed, is in Pakistan’s vital interest.