US President Donald Trump spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani over phone and thanked the two hostages, US Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, for their release. Both of them had been taken hostage since 2016 by the Taliban. On Tuesday, Kevin King (63) and Timothy Weeks (50) were handed over to US security forces in Afghanistan's southern province of Jabul. In return, the Afghan government released three large Taliban prisoners.
The three Taliban members associated with the released Haqqani network are Anas Haqqani, Haji Mali Khan and Hafiz Rashid. White House said that Trump made two separate calls on Thursday. White House said the details of the conversation said that in a phone conversation with Khan, Trump thanked him for Pakistan's cooperation in the release of the two hostages.
According to the information, "Trump hopes that this positive incident will contribute to the peace process in Afghanistan." According to this, 'The two leaders also reiterated their commitment to strengthen the US-Pakistan trade relationship, which is on the way to setting a new record this year, as well as investment and mutual relations between the people of the two countries. The conversation took place.
Meanwhile, according to a statement released from the Prime Minister's Office of Pakistan, Khan also informed President Trump about the current situation in Kashmir. The statement said that while praising President Trump for offering continued mediation on the Kashmir matter, Prime Minister Khan stressed that the US President should continue his efforts for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Significantly, Trump has repeatedly offered mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. However, India has always maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan with no scope for third party arbitration. In a phone conversation with Afghan President Ghani, Trump appreciated his cooperation in freeing the two hostages. Trump also praised the important role of the Afghan government in his country's peace process.
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