US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior members of Congress visited Kabul and met with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday.
In a statement, Pelosi said that the visit to Afghanistan focused on security, governance and economic development.
She said that the bipartisan delegation was briefed by US ambassador and other top diplomats on reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.
“We also heard more about the still-pending status of results from the Afghanistan presidential election in September, which we all hope will be available soon,” she said.
The delegation also emphasized the central importance of combating the corruption which endangers security and undermines the Afghan people’s ability to achieve a stable and prosperous future.
The delegation underscored that the Afghan women must be at the table for reconciliation talks.
Meanwhile, President Ghani told Pelosi that peace was a priority and that the peace process should be led and owned by the Afghans and it should protect constitutional values and women’s rights.
Ghani said that al-Qaeda and Daesh were still serious threats to Afghanistan and US security, adding the Taliban are facilitating activities of the terror groups.
CE Abdullah told Pelosi that he was ready for to pay any sacrifice for real peace in Afghanistan. He said that while Afghans want peace, they also want to protect gains made in recent years and their rights.
Pelosi’s visit to Afghanistan coincided with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper who said that “the aim is to still get a peace agreement at some point, a political agreement.”
