As foreign troops are depart  from Afghanistan, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has stressed peaceful political transition in Afghanistan, adding that peace would allow regional connectivity and prosperity in the region. 

“It is imperative for the peace of the entire region that there should be a pea­ceful transition in Afghan­istan, otherwise 1989-like chaos will occur when Sov­iet Union’s forces had left and everyone knows what happened after it,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

His comment came during his address to the concluding ceremony of the second conference of the parlia­mentary assembly of the Economic Cooperation Org­a­nisation (ECO) countries. The ECO is a group of ten countries that includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and other Central Asian countries. 

In the absence of a peaceful transition in Afghanistan, Khan warned, the chaos like the one that prevailed after Soviet troops left the country in 1989 will follow. He suggested that all member states would be benefited from peace in the region. 

During his address, he cited the example of the European Union (EU), saying it wasn’t a single country that benefited from the group but all states achieved prosperity. 

He called for the tapping of immense potential and res­ources of the 10-member PAECO for collective regio­nal progress and prosperity. “According to estimates, the combined population of these countries stood aro­und 450 million, ‘making this region a powerhouse’,” he said. 

(SAM)