WASHINGTON: US senators who recently visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, have asked Islamabad to do more to force the Taliban to accept a political solution and end insurgency in Afghanistan, a media report said on Sunday.
Senator John McCain, who led the five-member US senate delegation, told the US media the visit convinced him that there was need for new strategy to win the conflict in Afghanistan.
“The strongest nation on Earth should be able to win this conflict,” he was quoted by Afghan media as saying.
McCain and Graham supported substantial increase in the US military presence in Afghanistan. Senator Graham said the past strategy of gradual pull out of US forces from Afghanistan failed because the Taliban remained unbeaten.
But Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the two Democrats in the team, stressed the need for focusing on a political solution and accused the Trump administration of neglecting diplomatic efforts to win this war. She also urged Pakistan to do more.
“While they have taken positive steps, we told Pakistani leaders they must do more to eliminate safe havens and terrorist groups in the region,” she tweeted.
The Senate delegation, which met senior Pakistani and Afghan officials as well as commanders of the US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan, is expected to share its observations with the Trump administration. The delegation also visited South Waziristan.
Senator Warren, a rising Democratic star who is considered a serious candidate for the next presidential election, said she also discussed Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism with the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, when she met him in the Islamabad last week.
“I met with Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa to discuss the critical role Pakistan must play in countering terrorism in the region,” she tweeted. She also talked about the delegation’s July 3 visit to South Waziristan.
