Germany can play role in Pakistan, Afghanistan peace

ISLAMABAD: Germany will support all efforts to bring people of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan closer to ensure a long-term stable future of the region, said Dr Gerhard Wahlers, the Deputy Secretary General and Head of European and International Cooperation of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).

Addressing the launching the ceremony of the post-conference book for the “Islamabad Trilateral Dialogue: China-Afghanistan-Pakistan”, in collaboration with the Pakistan-China Institute and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), at Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), on Thursday, Dr Wahlers hoped that China could use its influence in this regard.

“Asia is the most dynamic continent of this world but is facing political, security and social challenge, he said, adding that the EU has largely brought peace in Europe.

Chairman Senate Defence Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that Afghanistan forms the lynchpin of regional security and stability in the region as the instability within this heart of Asia translates unerringly into insecurity.

“A peaceful and stable Afghanistan means a peaceful, stable, secure and prosperous region,” he said.

On China's role, Mushahid said that China has both economic as well as security stakes in Afghanistan. “Any vacuum in Afghanistan will make China vulnerable on multiple fronts, one is in the Western province of Xinjiang while other could be the proposed projects related to Silk Road Economic Corridor.”

Former Ambassador to Afghanistan and Secretary National Security Division, Muhammad Sadiq said that emerging Pak-Afghan relations in the context of NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan provide significant opportunities for two countries to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

“We share soft power of similar culture and civilization on both the sides on which the outreach of this relationship should be maintained.”

Ahmed Rashid, of ‘Descent into Chaos: The US and the Disaster in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia’, stated that time is running out, so Pakistan must act wisely and immediately in the right direction. “Only solution is that we should encourage the dialogues among the neighboring countries to find peaceful solutions of conflicts affecting the whole region”, he said.