By Fazal Khaliq
MINGORA: A high-level Afghan ambassadorial delegation said on Thursday that durable peace on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border was indispensable for progress and development in the region.
The delegation, including Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai and Afghan president’s senior adviser Haji Din Mohammad, paid a two-day visit to Swat to meet the family of nationalist leader Afzal Khan Lala and offer condolences on his sad demise.
Din Mohammad said that they had come to Swat on behalf of the entire nation of Afghanistan to offer their condolences on the demise of the great leader and scholar of all Pakhtuns.
“President Dr Ashraf Ghani and former president Hamid Karzai had asked us to go and meet the family of Afzal Khan Lala and offer condolences from the entire Afghan nation,” he said. He said that the Afghan nation was gloomy over the death of the veteran leader.
“He was not only the leader of Pakhtuns in Pakistan, but also in Afghanistan, as he always wanted peace, prosperity and development on both lands and preached unity of Pakhtuns,” he said, adding that it was the responsibility of every Pakhtun living in both the countries that they should follow and fulfil the mission of Afzal Khan Lala.
The president’s adviser said that Pakhtuns were brothers and united in a strong bond of the same language, culture and traditions. “Pakhtuns are not terrorists and extremists, but a peace-loving and brave nation and we have to prove it to the entire world by eliminating the elements which are defaming us,” he said.
He said that militancy and extremism was found in both the countries which had paralysed their social, political and financial fabrics. “For durable peace on both sides we have to eliminate the extremist factors from both the countries towards better relations in the region. If we achieved durable peace, then trade between the two countries is enough and we do not need to go somewhere else,” Din Mohammad said while stressing mutual cooperation to tackle militancy. Ambassador Janan Mosazai, who was also in the delegation, said that the sad demise of Khan Lala left the entire Afghan nation sad and the government sent a 40-member delegation earlier to Peshawar for offering condolences.
“But owing to his grand personality the Afghan government felt the need to send its higher level delegation to the house of Khan Lala to meet and offer condolences to his family. So we visited Khan Lala’s house and met his family to share their grief,” he told Morning Post.
