Khar says effective peace process still 'miles away', but process should be 'Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, Afghan-driven'. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is willing to do whatever the Afghans want to help facilitate an end to 10 years of war with the Taliban, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told reporters on Thursday.

Speaking a day after talks with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul billed as a fence-mending visit designed to ease frosty ties, Khar sought to refute perceptions that Islamabad was an obstacle to peace.

“We’re willing to do whatever the Afghans want or expect,” Khar told reporters when asked whether Pakistan was ready to push the Haqqani network towards peace negotiations, but stopped short of naming the group or commenting further.

She said an effective peace process was still “miles away” but that the process should be “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, Afghan-driven”.

“Once the Afghan people decide the way forward, whatever assistance Pakistan can give, it will give,” she said.

Khar arrived in Kabul on a one-day visit on Wednesday to hold talks with her Afghan counterpart, which aimed at thawing frosty ties between the two neighbours.(AFP)