Islamabad, Jul 29 (PTI) Pakistan said on Thursday that all energies must be focused on reaching an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan, amid raging violence in the war-torn neighbouring country.

Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri claimed that Pakistan, a close and brotherly neighbour of Afghanistan, is the only country that has consistently emphasised that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict.

"Pakistan has been supporting and facilitating the peace process for achieving an inclusive intra-Afghan political settlement. All neighbours of Afghanistan including China have been supporting political resolution of the Afghan conflict," he said during a press conference here, highlighting its all weather ally China's role in the war-torn nation.

Pakistan and China are committed to facilitate and support the "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" peace and reconciliation process, he said.

China on Wednesday hosted an Afghan Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and praised the insurgent group as an "important military and political force" in Afghanistan. China also asked the Taliban to make a "clean break" with all terrorist groups, especially the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) - the Uyghur Muslim militant group from Xinjiang.

Chaudhri, however, accused India of playing a role of a "spoiler" in the Afghan peace process.

Afghanistan has repeatedly accused Pakistan of providing sanctuaries to the Afghan Taliban on its soil.

Chaudhri said Pakistan consistently maintained that at this critical juncture in the Afghan peace process, all energies must be focused on reaching an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan and reduction in violence leading to ceasefire is particularly significant in this regard.

Under a deal with the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the militants that they would prevent extremist groups from operating in areas they control. US President Joe Biden has announced that American troops will be out of the country by August 31.

"…We believe that China being a neighbouring country to Afghanistan does have an important role to play in the Afghan peace process,” Chaudhri said.

Talking about the reported abduction and torture of Afghan Ambassador's daughter, he said a thorough investigation was launched immediately after the incident was reported.

"While a significant progress has been made in this case, we believe that the cooperation of Afghan Ambassador and his daughter is critical in concluding the investigation," he said.

To a question about the possibility of the downgrading of diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, he said Pakistan believes in maintaining close, cooperative and brotherly relations with Afghanistan. "There is no plan to downgrade our diplomatic relations with Afghanistan," he said.

To another question, Chaudhri said Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan is in Pakistan for his periodic visit, and to celebrate Eid with his family. "He has not been recalled and neither do we plan to downgrade our diplomatic relations with Afghanistan in any way," he said.

Talking about floods in India, he said Pakistan was “deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives and injuries caused by floods and landslides to many in Kashmir and in parts of India including Maharashtra."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and we wish speedy recovery to the injured," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)