RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Tuesday that the path to regional peace and stability passes through Afghanistan, stated an Inter-Services Public Relations press statement.

According to the ISPR press release, the army chief attended Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) Conference held in Kabul today, which was attended by Commander US CENTCOM, Commander Resolute Support Mission (RSM) and Army Chiefs of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

COAS Bajwa addressed the gathering, saying that regions develop as whole and not in the form of individual countries.

The army chief said that Pakistan has eradicated all terrorist sanctuaries from its soil, however, residual signs of terrorists are being traced and targeted through the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.

The ISPR mentioned that the army chief said terrorists try to take advantage of the presence of 2.7 million Afghan refugees and absence of effective border security coordination.

The army chief once again assured that the Pakistani territory will not be used against any other country and Pakistan also expects reciprocation in this regard, said the ISPR press statement.

He said that collaborative approach and persistence is the answer to all challenges, for which Pakistan is willing to play its part, said the ISPR.