Pakistan open to joint Afghan border patrols: Abbasi

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said his country is willing to set up joint patrols with Afghanistan to combat militants along their porous border. His remarks came weeks after US President Donald Trump criticised Pakistan for providing safe havens to militants.

Abbasi said Pakistan was committed to peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue. “We are open for joint patrolling (along the border with Afghanistan),” Abbasi said. Abbasi also referred to fencing of the 2,600-km-long border with Afghanistan, which has already started.

“We will put up a fence there (on our side of border). The Afghans are welcome to put up another fence on their side,” he said. He said that Pakistan was open to bilateral verifications and joint patrols to screen the visitors who cross the border every day. Pakistan has suffered massively due to instability in Afghanistan and believes that the solution to the Afghan conflict should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, he said.