KABUL: The Afghan presidential election front-runner Abdullah Abdullah has said that he wants ‘good neighborly relations’ with Pakistan as both Kabul and Islamabad are facing similar challenges.
“Today, one harsh reality is that both countries are faced with the same challenges and it is in the interest of both countries to deal with it in a genuine spirit of good neighborly relations,” Abdullah told a US-based think tank, the Atlantic Council.
His remarks came after the outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s national security council accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency of attempting to kill Abdullah. However, Pakistan denied its involvement in the attack.
Abdullah escaped an assassination attempt when an explosion hit his convoy after he left an election campaign rally in Kabul on June 6. However, several other persons killed and injured in the blast.
The Afghan presidential candidate, who will compete in a run-off election against Ashraf Ghani on June 14, further said that he would also seek to work with Afghanistan’s other neighbors.
Moreover, he also reiterated that he would sign the agreement with the United States that allows the US military to maintain nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of most of the foreign forces later this year.
