Ex-Afghan president Hamid Karzai has said that he was hopeful Pakistan would pursue good relations with its neighbor Afghanistan under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Karzai, who was president of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014, made these statements in a conversation with international news outlet BBC.
It quoted the Afghan leader as saying that he enjoyed “excellent” relations with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who according to him, was keen in creating productive ties with Afghanistan.
“I hope that Shahbaz Sharif, — his [Nawaz’s] brother — would follow the same path,” Karzai said.
He said that PM Shehbaz would garner a positive response from the Afghan citizens as well.
Touching upon the air strikes allegedly conducted by Pakistani forces in Kunar and Khost provinces, Karzai said that they violated Afghan sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He said that the Afghans denounced the killing of women and children.
Speaking on the issue of girls’ education, Karzai also highlighted the need for girls enrolled above sixth grade to return to school. He termed the recent attack on a school in western regions of the capital Kabul an “attack against Afghanistan’s efforts for educating its young, its peace and its movement towards stability and progress.”
