NEW YORK: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua met US Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon on Monday and stressed intra-Afghan dialogue is vital for bringing lasting peace to the country and the region, said a statement from the Embassy of Pakistan in the US.
Janjua also conveyedPakistan's viewpoint on the new strategy announced for the region earlier by President Donald Trump and addedthat peace in Afghanistan is a high priority for Pakistan.
The foreign secretary further added thatPakistan would continue to play a facilitating role for a peaceful Afghanistan.
Regarding Pakistan-US relations, Janjua said the country hadalways considered relations with the US as one of its most important relationships, added the statement.
"There was a desire on Pakistan's part to build this relationship further to the mutual benefit of both countries based on mutual trust and respect."
She conveyed to Shannon that recent statements by the US had evoked a strong public reaction in Pakistan, but both countries could work together to attain common objectives such as defeating Daesh in Afghanistan and the region as a whole.
Discussions between Foreign Secretary Janjua and Under Secretary Shannon were held in a frank and cordial manner, added the embassy statement.
Both sides agreed to remain engaged at all levels in the coming days.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US also attended the meeting.
Earlier,Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Trump administration's "militaristic approach" in Afghanistan represented a failed policy, and he has called for talks with the Taliban to bring peace to the war-torn country.
"They are pursuing a folly, a strategy that has already failed," the foreign minister said.
On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also said that there could be no military solution to the Afghan conflict and called for efforts towards creating a political solution.
Relations turned confrontational after President Donald Trump accused Pakistan in August of providing a haven for terrorists and then threatening to withhold aid if there wasn't better cooperation.
Trump had said that a political settlement with elements of the Taliban was "perhaps" possible, but only after an effective US military campaign.
The foreign minister subsequently cancelled a trip to the US for talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Islamabad also rejected a planned visit to Pakistan by the senior US official dealing with the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, Alice Wells.
Instead, the foreign minister toured the region, visiting US adversaries in China, Iran and Turkey, saying that they agreed that a political solution was needed.
The Trump administration's plan would add up to 3,900 US soldiers to the 8,400 that the Pentagon says are already there, and allow them to fight the Taliban with more lenient rules of engagement.
At its peak, under President Barack Obama, the US had over 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan.
Tillerson said last month that the US strategy was to convince the Taliban to understand that they cannot win on the battlefield and "at some point, we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end."