“It is unfair to blame Pakistan for Afghanistan situation”, PM tells Ashraf Ghani
Monitoring Desk :
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday hit back at Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s claim about what he claimed Pakistan’s ‘negative role’ in in the Afghan peace process, adding that it was unfair to blame Pakistan for the Afghanistan situation.
The prime minister made the comments at the international conference on “Central and South Asia Regional Connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities” during his two-day visit to Uzbekistan. The Afghan president was also present at the conference.
PM Imran’s remarks came shortly before the two leaders were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the conference. “President Ghani let me just say that the country that will be most affected by turmoil in Afghanistan is Pakistan. Pakistan suffered 70,000 casualties in the last 15 years.
He also said that the Taliban was no longer willing to compromise after the United States gave a date for the withdrawal of troops.
“When there were 150,000 Nato troops […] that was the time to ask the Taliban to come to the table. Why were the Taliban going to compromise once the exit date was given […] why would they listen to us when they are sensing victory” the prime minister questioned.
The premier said that Pakistan’s economy was finally recovering after going through a difficult phase. “I repeat, the last thing we want is turbulence in Afghanistan.”
PM Imran stated that no country has tried harder than Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the table for dialogue. “We have made every effort, short of taking military action against the Taliban in Pakistan, to get them on the dialogue table and to have a peaceful settlement [in Afghanistan].
