Pakistan urged all sides to exercise restraint, saying there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan after US President Donald Trump cancelled a secret weekend meeting with Taliban leaders and the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. 

Donald Trump on Saturday in a series of tweets notified that he cancelled a secret weekend meeting at Camp David with Taliban leaders and his Afghan counterpart after the armed group claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on Thursday that killed 12 people, including an American soldier. 

Pakistan's Foreign Office said that Islamabad has always condemned violence and called on all sides for restraint and commitment to pursue the process of peace negotiation between the US and Taliban. It further said that Pakistan looks for optimised engagement following the earliest resumption of talks between the parties.

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"Pakistan looks for optimized engagement following (the) earliest resumption of talks," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said Pakistan has been facilitating the peace and reconciliation process in good faith and as a shared responsibility and has encouraged all sides to remain engaged with sincerity and patience. Pakistan said that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and urges that both sides must re-engage to find negotiated peace from the ongoing political settlement process.

US-Taliban keep open door to talks

Afghanistan's Taliban and the United States both left the door open to fresh talks after Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a secret meeting with the Taliban, days ahead of the 9/11 anniversary. Washington also said it would not relent in fighting the militants.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while did not rule out the return of talks between the two sides, but stated that the US needed 'significant commitment' from the armed group. 

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Cancellation of 'secret meeting'

The office of Afghan President, whose government is rejected by the Taliban as illegitimate, cautiously saluted the "sincere efforts of its allies" after Trump called off the summit. The Afghan presidency in a statement also insisted that "real peace can only be achieved if the Taliban stop killing Afghans and accept a ceasefire and face-to-face talks with the Afghan government." 

While Donald Trump has been infamous for his dramatic gestures like meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, but the admission of a 'secret meeting' just 3 days before the 18th anniversary of 9/11, which consequently led to the US invasion of Afghanistan angered critics and even some allies of the US President. 

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