ISLAMABAD: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells arrived in Islamabad on Monday.
According to the State Department press release, Wells will “meet senior Pakistani government officials to discuss bilateral issues of mutual interest including trade, investment and regional stability.” She concluded her visit to India this week.
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Faisal said in a tweet that the meetings were “part of regular consultations, on bilateral relationship & Afghan peace process.”
However, Khalilzad reiterated on Sunday that any peace agreement would be based on the assurance of permanent cease-fire and ending the decades-old Afghan war.
In an interview with Tolo News, Khalilzad said the Taliban’s demands were yet focused on the withdrawal of US forces from the country.
“Our focus is on terrorism. No agreement will be done if we don’t see a permanent cease-fire and a commitment to end the war,” he said. “We are seeking peace and (a) political settlement … We want peace to give us the possibility to withdraw.”
Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday to meet President Ashraf Ghani as part of his regional tour ahead of his next meeting with the Taliban in Qatar.
During Wells’ visit to Pakistan in November last year, Islamabad and Washington had agreed to continue their efforts to promote shared objectives of peace and stability in the region, ahead of early negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and special US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to end the Afghan war.
Following the collapse of intra-Afghan talks earlier this month, Pakistan on Thursday expressed its neutrality in the Afghan conflict, and Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a policy statement that the Taliban’s spring offensive and Afghan forces’ operations undermined the peace process.
Pakistan is highly dismayed by the surge of violence in Afghanistan from all sides,” he said.
Pakistan and the US have long been at odds over the war in Afghanistan, but in February this year, President Donald Trump publicly noted that relations had improved over a “short period of time.”
Alice Wells, Khalilzad arrive in Islamabad to discuss Afghan peace
Alice Wells, Khalilzad arrive in Islamabad to discuss Afghan peace
- Will meet senior Pakistani officials to discuss an array of bilateral issues, regional peace
- Any peace agreement will be based on assurance of permanent cease-fire, Khalilzad says
UK says Pakistan regulatory overhaul to yield £1 billion a year as Islamabad launches reform drive
- Britain says it worked with Pakistan on 472 proposed reforms to streamline business rules across key sectors
- PM Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan has stabilized economy and now aims to attract investment by cutting red tape
ISLAMABAD: Britain’s development minister Jenny Chapman said on Saturday Pakistan’s sweeping new regulatory overhaul could generate economic gains of nearly £1 billion a year, as Islamabad formally launched the reform package aimed at cutting red tape and attracting foreign investment.
The initiative, driven by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and the Board of Investment, aims to introduce legislative changes and procedural reforms designed to streamline approvals, digitize documentation and remove outdated business regulations.
Chapman said the UK had worked with Pakistan on 472 reform proposals as part of its support to help the country shift from economic stabilization to sustained growth.
“These reforms will break down barriers to investment, eliminate more than 600,000 paper documents, and save over 23,000 hours of labor every year for commercial approvals,” Chapman said at the launch ceremony in the presence of Sharif and his team. “The first two packages alone could have an economic impact of up to 300 billion Pakistani rupees annually — nearly one billion pounds — with more benefits to come.”
Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said the reforms were central to Pakistan’s effort to rebuild investor confidence after the country narrowly avoided financial default in recent years.
“Our economy was in a very difficult situation when we took office,” he said. “But we did not lose hope, and today Pakistan is economically out of the woods. Now we are focused on growing our economy and attracting foreign investment.”
He described the new regulatory framework as a “quantum jump” that would reduce corruption, speed up approvals and remove longstanding procedural hurdles that have discouraged businesses.
Chapman told the audience that more than 200 British companies operate in Pakistan, with the largest six contributing around one percent of Pakistan’s GDP.
She said the UK saw Pakistan as a partner rather than a recipient of aid.
“Modern partners work together not as donors but as investors, bringing all our strengths to the table,” she said, adding that the reforms would make Pakistani exports more competitive and encourage UK firms to expand their footprint.
Sharif highlighted the role of the British Pakistani diaspora and said Pakistan hoped to unlock more private capital by engaging diaspora entrepreneurs and financial institutions in the UK.
