Pakistan wants stable, inclusive govt in Afghanistan: Fawad

Says Islamabad would go along with the regional countries on the recognition of Taliban authorities

LAHORE:

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Sunday maintained that Pakistan had a clear policy on Afghanistan, saying Islamabad wanted stability and peace in the neighbouring country.

“Pakistan will support an inclusive government in Afghanistan,” the minister said while talking to media in Lahore.

As far as the recognition of Taliban authorities is concerned, Pakistan does not want to take a unilateral decision and will go along with the regional countries and other global powers, he observed.

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General Faiz Hameed is not the first intelligence chief who visited Kabul, he added.

According to media reports, the intelligence chiefs of the USA, Turkey and Qatar also visited the Afghan capital, the minister noted, adding that the intelligence agencies had their own style of working.

“Any situation in Afghanistan would have a deep impact on Pakistan because it has strategic, political, social and economic relations with us, so we cannot ignore Afghanistan.”

The minister pointed out that due to the political vacuum in Afghanistan intelligence relations were being used to remove reservations between the two countries and bring both sides to dialogue to establish good relations.

He said Pakistan had long been calling for a political solution to Afghanistan but the US president and other global community realised the fact today by calling for the same solution.

The minister said Pakistan would not abandon the common Afghans. "Their lives are as important for us as the lives of those evacuated from Afghanistan," he said.

Fawad said leaving the common Afghans alone would lead to instability in the next-door neighbour, which would not be in the interest of the world.

Pakistan’s viewpoint is that the international community should not leave Afghanistan alone, and maintain a constant liaison with the Afghan authorities so that such a government is brought in Afghanistan which has the representation of all its ethnic and other groups, he said.

“We will not let India use the Afghan land for terrorism against Pakistan,” he warned.