Karzai hopes Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan will pursue good links with Kabul

• Karzai says ex-PM Nawaz Sharif was keen to engage fruitfully with Afghanistan.
• Hopes PM Shehbaz will follow his brother's path. 
• Calls recent airstrikes allegedly made by Pakistani forces a violation of Afghan sovereignty.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has expressed hope that Pakistan pursues good relations with Afghanistan under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Tolo News reported, citing a BBC report.

Karzai, who ruled Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014, expressed these views in a conversation with BBC.

The publication quoted the Afghan leader as saying that he had an "excellent" relationship with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who according to Karzai, was keen to engage in fruitful ties with Afghanistan.

"I hope that Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, — his [Nawaz's] brother—would follow the same path,” Karzai said.

He said that PM Shehbaz Sharif will get a positive response from the Afghan people as well.

Speaking about the airstrikes made allegedly by Pakistani forces in Kunar and Khos provinces, Karzai called them a clear violation of Afghan sovereignty and territorial integrity,

He said that the Afghan people condemn the killing of Afghan women and children.

Moreover, Karzai also emphasised the need to allow girls above sixth grade to return to school.

He called the recent attack on a school in western Kabul an “attack against Afghanistan’s efforts for educating its young, its peace and movement towards stability and progress."

Meanwhile, Karzai advised Ukraine to be "wise" enough to avoid falling into the "big games" of world powers.