Efforts to establish good relations with Pakistan not fruitful: President Ghani

President Ghani however said that Afghan government has been able to establish a good regional cooperation with central Asian countries including Russia, Iran and China.

It was the first visit by the full council since 2010. There have been a series of recent high-profile visits to Afghanistan, including by US Vice President Mike Pence last month, as Afghan police and troops struggle to beat back the resurgent Taliban and Islamic State militants expand their foothold.

The talks focused on political, security, socio-economic and human rights issues in Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement after the delegation flew back to New York.

“Council members aimed to get a first-hand account of progress made by the Afghan National Unity Government, with the assistance of the international community, in addressing a wide range of interconnected challenges and to learn how the Security Council could further assist efforts on the ground,” UNAMA said.

Among other things “all parties reiterated the need for greater international and regional security cooperation”.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani described the talks as “productive” in a statement from his office.

“Regional cooperation was discussed in the meeting and it was noted that pressure be exerted on Pakistan for the purpose of bringing stability in Afghanistan,” the statement said.

The president statement added that Afghan government has been able to establish good relations with Asian countries including Russia, China and Iran, but all the efforts to establish such a relation with Pakistan didn’t work.

Pakistan has long been accused of supporting various militant groups, including the Taliban, and providing them with safe havens — charges it denies.