Pak role vital to maintain peace in Afghanistan: US

DUBAI: The US State Department has stated that the peace in Afghanistan cannot be established without the cooperation of its neighbouring Pakistan but the historical “Doha agreement” between the US and Taliban was still under review.

It has been one year since the United States and the Afghan Taliban signed a landmark agreement leading to a political settlement between Kabul and the Taliban insurgents.

"It would be difficult to establish peace in Afghanistan without Pakistan," the Urdu Spokesperson of the State Department Zed Tarar stated in the exclusive interview with Geo News in Dubai.

Expressing the hope of peaceful future for the Afghan people, Zed Tarar said that Pakistan's role in withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan or other issues related to peace was “very important“ as Pakistan is a partner of the United States and a neighbour of Afghanistan.

The spokesperson said that the US would not allow Iran to make nuclear bomb under any circumstances. He mentioned that Iran moved away from compliance with the 2015 agreement.

Five years back, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities with a group of world powers known as the P5+1 - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany but the US quitted the deal under the Trump administration in 2018.

But, now the spokesperson reiterated US willingness to engage in talks with Iran with the consultation of its allies and partners in the region.

Condemning the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi Arabia, the US State Department vowed to defend its regional biggest partner Saudi Arabia terming it “unacceptable” at any cost.

“Saudi Arabia’s integrity would be protected”, and “the US remains committed helping Saudi Arabia to defend its territory as it faces attacks from Houthis”, he added.

The spokesperson mentioned that the Biden administration nominated Special Envoy Tim Lenderking with the goal of bringing peace, prosperity, and security to the Yemeni people. He informed that the new administration started working with the United Nations (UN) and its allies to end the Yemen crisis peacefully.

Talking about the Covid-19 pandemic, the spokesperson of the US State Department said that Biden administration has a top priority to restore global economy following massive negative impact over the world and financial system.

In order to revive the global economy, Tarar hoped that vaccination should be carried out equally in developing and developed countries to control the pandemic.

He mentioned that more than $4 billion had been allocated for the eradication of coronavirus but there were still many challenges ahead specially in developing nations.

The spokesperson also highlighted the US ambitions to prevent the possible catastrophes of climate change in the world.

He said that in order to prevent the world from going on a potentially catastrophic environmental path, it was necessary to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and introduce environmentally friendly energy sources.