KABUL, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa congratulated the Afghan government on the recently announced Taliban cease-fire deal.
It came during an official visit to Afghanistan to discuss the political and military situation in the region with the country’s President Ashraf Ghani and other political and military leaders. He was accompanied by the the Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Naveed Mukhtar. They returned on Tuesday.
“During this trip, the implementation and execution of a plan for peace and solidarity for Afghanistan-Pakistan, the campaign against terrorism, reduction of violence and peace talks under the leadership and ownership of Afghans, was discussed,” said Shah Hussain Murtazawi, a spokesman for Ghani.
Posting on Twitter, Tamim Asey, a deputy Afghan defense minister, said that Bajwa had discussed the political-military developments in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region with Ghani and Afghan military and political leaders. The general also met Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and NATO’s Commander Resolute Support Mission, Gen. John Nicholson.
The visit came days after the announcement on on June 9, 2018, by the Afghan Taliban of a three-day cease-fire over Eid Al Fitr, the first truce of its kind by insurgents since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistani military’s media wing, said: “(Bajwa) congratulated the Afghan government for the cease-fire deal and hoped these steps gain more permanence, ultimately leading toward enduring peace.”
It also quoted Bajwa saying that Pakistan had attained relative peace and stability inside its borders and “efforts are now focused toward socio-economic development as a route toward enduring peace and stability.”
The statement added that his discussions in Afghanistan encompassed a wide range of issues, especially the ongoing efforts for reconciliation in the country, the measures needed to check the rise of Daesh, and the issue of terrorists taking advantage of the porous border to indulge in terrorism, smuggling and drug trafficking.
“The Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Stability is expected to bring more cooperation and coordination between the two countries,” Bajwa added.
Analyst Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal said that Bajwa’s visit was a continuation of the direct talks the United States had with him and the caretaker government.
“When the cease-fire was announced, everyone was jubilant,” he said. “Pakistan is a key strategic player in the peace process, and while Afghanistan may not be entirely dependent on Pakistan for peace, especially considering the huge trust deficit between the countries, with the Pakistan army chief being invited to Kabul to discuss stability in the region it is clear that completely cutting off from Pakistan is not beneficial for Afghanistan either.”
Pakistani army chief meets Ghani, lauds Afghan government for Taliban cease-fire deal
Pakistani army chief meets Ghani, lauds Afghan government for Taliban cease-fire deal
- The Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Stability is expected to bring more cooperation and coordination between the two countries, Bajwa said
- Bajwa had discussed the political-military developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan: a deputy Afghan defense minister
Erika Kirk, widow of influential activist, endorses Vance for US President
- “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said
- The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again movement begins to look to a future without Trump
PHOENIX, USA: The widow of murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has endorsed JD Vance for president in 2028, firing an early starting gun on the White House race, and offering the backing of the influential youth organization founded by her husband.
Erika Kirk, whose husband’s Turning Point USA was a major player in mobilizing young people to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, told thousands of attendees she was backing the vice president to become the 48th president.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point gathering since Charlie Kirk was killed.
Vance is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday.
The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement begins to look to a future without Trump.
Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but he is widely expected to put himself forward.
An early endorsement from a group that has become increasingly powerful within the movement could help to create momentum that makes a Vance candidacy seem inevitable.
But it also comes at a time that fractures in the MAGA movement are becoming increasingly obvious, and as some key figures are starting to express frustration and disillusionment with Trump.
Last month, firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene launched a blistering attack on Trump’s second-term agenda, which she said was betraying voters.
Greene, until recently one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, has said she will leave congress in January, with some commentators speculating that she might make a tilt at 2028.
Other figures on the right, including white nationalist Nick Fuentes, also appear to be trying to lay claim to the crown.
Vance was close to Charlie Kirk in the months and years before he was shot dead on a Utah college campus, in a political assassination that shocked America and sent conservatives into shocked mourning.
The vice president flew to Utah to console Erika Kirk and to accompany Charlie Kirk’s body back to the couple’s Arizona home.
Footage showed Vance walking with the coffin as it was loaded onto Air Force Two.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was a talented speaker who toured college campuses where he challenged young people to debates on hot-button issues.
Edited clips of these confrontations helped build a large social media following, which he parlayed into a movement that worked to mobilize young voters on right-wing issues.
A month after his death, Trump posthumously awarded him the Presidential medal of Freedom, hailing the young activist as a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
