Senior Pakhtun nationalist leaders have called for joint efforts to ensure peace and prosperity in the region during the new solar year.
The call came at a well-attended function at the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar on Friday, marking the traditional Jashan-i-Nawroz– the new solar year.
Awami National Party (ANP) leader Afrasiab Khattak urged all countries in the region to stand united against the scourge of terrorism and extremism.
The ex-senator said: “All countries in the region will have to decide the next year should be the year of peace, reconciliation and brotherhood.”
Iranian Consul General Mohammad BaqirBegi was also among the participants, including political figures, academics, culturists and poets.
Afghan Consul General Dr Abdullah Waheed Pohan said Jashan-i-Nwroz was celebrated in Afghanistan, Iran and other Central Asian states.
ANP secretary general MianIftikhar Hussain deplored the Pakhtun-inhabited region had witnessed the killing of innocent people for the past 35 years. The terrorists did not spare mosques, bazaars and children, he said. (PAN)