DAWOS -UNS : Pakistan will not hold talks with terrorist organisations that don’t respect the country’s laws and the Constitution.Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the former government adopted an appeasement policy towards the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) on Friday.
“The new leadership in Pakistan, both political and military, has been absolutely clear. There will be no talks with terrorist organisations that don’t respect our laws and Constitution.
FM said that “I am confident that if we can work with the Afghan interim government, which has influence over these groups, we will be successful in maintaining our security,”. He was in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post in Davos, Switzerland where he is attending the World Economic Forum.
Commenting on the previous PTI government, the foreign minister said: “Imran Khan gave the TTP a place to hide. Not only did he release their prisoners who were in Pakistan’s custody, but also engaged in a dialogue with them.
“He (Imran) has always been ideologically sympathetic to their point of view,” Bilawal said.
The foreign minister was also asked whether Pakistan had hoped that the new Afghan government would act against the TTP, to which he responded: “Our hope, and in fact, their agreement was that their soil would not be used for terrorism. We do hope to cooperate with them to deal with terrorists that are a concern to us.
“We are both victims of terrorism. I don’t believe that the Afghanistan government will be successful on their own against terrorism, and neither will we be successful on our own against terrorism. We have to work together.”
‘Pakistan not interested in launching cross-border operation in Afghanistan’
FM Bilawal also said that Pakistan had no intention of launching a cross-border operation in Afghanistan
FM Bilawal reiterated Pakistan’s demand for the Afghan government to weed out terrorist organisations and offered to help in this regard.
“The most legitimate and the most viable way for us to address the issue of terrorism will be for the interim government in Afghanistan to take appropriate action against these groups.
“What we will prefer is for the interim government of Afghanistan to take action against terrorists that may be in their country, and we are ready and willing to help them increase their capacity and ability to deal with that threat.”
‘Pakistan facing multidimensional economic challenges’
On Pakistan’s economic conditions, FM Bilawal said the country is grappling with “multidimensional challenges”.
“I think these are incredibly challenging economic times for everyone, particularly where we are seeing the fallout from Covid, the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the sanctions associated with that having an outside effect on the [global] economy,” he said.
Next Post
Governor appoints Azam Khan as caretaker KP CM
Sat Jan 21 , 2023
PESHAWAR -UNS – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on Saturday appointed former bureaucrat Azam Khan as the caretaker chief minister. The governor issued the order after outgoing Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and leader of opposition Akram Khan Durrani unanimously nominated the name of Azam Khan for the position in […]
