Islamabad remains in touch with Kabul: FO

ISLAMABAD:

The Foreign Office on Friday said Pakistan had maintained a “channel of communication” with Afghanistan despite the “misgivings” in the bilateral relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

“Pakistan's foreign policy has been consistent that we want to have friendly ties with our neighbour Afghanistan,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch told journalists at a weekly briefing in Islamabad.

“Pakistan has done everything possible to maintain positive relations with Afghanistan and in that context, we have remained engaged with [it] on all issues of concern,” she said.

“Despite our misgivings and despite our serious concerns, Pakistan has maintained a channel of communication with Afghanistan,” she added amid the ongoing tensions between the two countries.

The two neighbouring countries have been at loggerheads with each other over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the relationship deteriorated further after Islamabad decided to deport all Afghans illegally residing in the country.

A number of Afghan Taliban leaders in recent weeks issued strong statements, criticising Pakistan’s deportation policy.

At the same time, the Afghan Taliban government rejected Pakistan’s allegation that it was harbouring the TTP.

Earlier this week, in an unusual move, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar addressed a news conference and pretty much issued a charge sheet against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The interim premier said despite repeated demands, the Afghan Taliban failed to rein in the TTP. He added since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in the neighbouring country, there had been a 60% increase in terrorist strikes while the number of suicide attacks went up by a staggering 500%.

Kakar said he was compelled to hold a news conference as the Afghan Taliban leaders continued to hurl allegations against Pakistan.

The relationship between the two countries has worsened to the extent that Pakistan has decided not to extend any support to the Afghan Taliban regime at international forums.

The FO spokesperson, when asked about the deteriorating ties, did not directly comment on the apparent shift in Pakistan’s policy, but listed the challenges in the relationship.

Read more: Pakistan urges UNSC to restore peace in Gaza urgently

“There is, of course, a challenge that we face and the challenge is that the Afghan territory is being used by terrorist entities against Pakistan,” Baloch said.

“So our foreign policy is a reflection of our security concerns … and we have expressed [them] very clearly to the Afghan authorities. [We have] asked them to take immediate and effective measures against these terrorist entities,” she added.

She defended the interim premier’s news conference, saying that his statement was neither new nor extraordinary.

“The [caretaker] prime minister said what [Islamabad] has been saying all along that we have concerns about Afghan territory being used by terrorist forces against Pakistan … We have asked Afghanistan on several occasions to rein in these terrorist groups and take action against them,” she continued.

The FO spokesperson said the Afghan government was fully aware of Pakistan’s deep concern about the hideouts and sanctuaries of terrorist groups that threatened the country.

“They [Afghan Taliban] have made certain commitments to [Islamabad] and to the international community that the Afghan soil will not be used against Pakistan ... We expect that Afghanistan will fulfill this commitment and take effective measures against these terrorist entities,” Baloch added.

During the briefing, the FO spokesperson also took up the issue of the “heinous crimes” committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.

Baloch said as a “tragedy of epic proportions” unfolded in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must act to fulfill its responsibility to uphold peace and call for an urgent and unconditional ceasefire, lifting of siege and commencement of rapid, unhindered humanitarian assistance.

She said Israeli forces were committing crimes against humanity with impunity.

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The FO spokesperson criticised Israel’s indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza and deliberate attempts to deprive them of food, water, shelter and medical attention.

“As an occupying power, Israel must fulfil its obligations under the 4th Geneva Convention and end its carnage in Gaza,” she continued.

Baloch said the backers of Israel must prevail upon it to abandon its plans for settler colonialism, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

The FO spokesperson said the caretaker premier would attend an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Council (OIC) scheduled to take place on November 11 in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh convened in response to the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Speaking on the longstanding issue of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Baloch said Pakistan would continue to extend its political, diplomatic and moral support to its brothers and sisters there.

She added that Pakistan would continue its efforts for the just and peaceful settlement of the IIOJK dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.

(With input from Radio Pakistan)