Afghan reconciliation: Paris talks a welcome step, says Mushahid Hussain

Senator says Pakistan's view point that peace in Afghanistan can only be achieved through dialogue.

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Monday that the Paris talks between representatives of the Taliban and Afghan government was a welcome step and presented 'psychological and political breakthrough'  for finding a lasting peace.

"It is for the first time that all Afghan factions sat across the table to discuss Afghan issue. We welcome this process as this has set the ball rolling," he said while talking to APP after presiding over a talk on Arab Spring at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute here.

Mushahid said Paris parleys last week among Afghan factions had also accepted Pakistan's viewpoint as it had always stated that lasting peace and security in Afghanistan could be achieved only through dialogue.

The Senator further said that in his opinion it was a mistake on part of the US not to include Islamabad in talks on Afghanistan and now it had been included in the dialogue process, which was necessary for realising the objective of stability.

Arab spring most important event since Iran revolution

Concluding the talk on the Arab Spring, Mushahid Hussain said after the Iranian Revolution, it was the most important development in the Muslim world due to its transformative. The status quo in the Arab world, he said, was unraveling as the wind was sweeping the entire region.

Referring to the Palestinian issue, he said Pakistan had been in the forefront in raising the issue and had always espoused the just cause of Palestinian people. It was Pakistan which, for the first time in 1974, recognised Palestine Liberation Organisation at the Islamic Summit in Lahore, as the genuine representative of Palestinian people. It remains committed to champion the cause of Palestine.