According to a statement released by the PTI, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammed Umar Daudzai had a telephonic conversation with Imran Khan. Imran expressed regret that successive Pakistani regimes supported various Afghan groups rather than focusing on what the people of Afghanistan really want.
Imran hoped that both the countries could move forward through the process of dialogue and understanding. He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan should have a relationship “free of the excess baggage of the past and of India,” although he stated that the latter factor cannot be ignored.
Imran also conveyed his concerns of a 1989 repeat, when the US withdraw in 2014.
Ambassador Daudzai briefed Imran about Afghanistan’s heavy investment in human development projects including higher education and how present Afghanistan is different from the past one.
COMMENTS (119)
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just keep quit anybody who is talking about afghani...they r our brothers and they fighting against america and NATO...and american,s and NATO,S defeat is not just for interest of afghanistan it is more better for survival of pakistan....the american,s have mission in asia and u my dear brothers don,t know that what the american.s want to play game in this region ok ....if american,s didn,t defeated in afghanistan than pakistan resistance will be in danger and the first islamic atomic power will be destroy...and it will be very bad for muslim ummah... Imran Khan we love you, we support you, ur vision is best, Yes Pak and Afghanistan should come more closer....otherwise if afghanistan is defaeted by american,s than the american and NATO,S target will be pakistan my dear pakistani brothers also be carefull in this direction....
Pls Pls Pls* madam ambreen i saw u r massage because u were 8 the top....... i m afghani but look 8 me i love pakistan as much as i love afghanistan..so pls don't hate us v r also muslims,plsssssssssssssss madam u r masage were totaly wrong????????
Would be disastrous for the economy of Pakistan. I'm flabbergasted at his illogical statements regarding Pakistan's relationships with Afghanistan. Does he not know that an open border will bring in plight of Afghan immigrants again, the plight that Pakistan has gotten rid off after decades? Not to forget the immense tactical advantage that Indian Military would have after any such step. Before USSR invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan had an open border with Afghanistan but back then, the scenario was utterly different than what it is today and is absolutely illogical to compare.
I am extremely tempted to think that this statement has been taken out of context and that it was more an expression of his desire on how he would want the two neighbors to be in the future. NOT in the present day.
A lot we say India and Pakistan should have open borders. We all know its not possible but it is an expression of how ideally relations with our neighboring countries should be.
@Hassam: Please ask the Pashtuns in Pakistan if they want it, you will be surprised. Please dont decide for them assuming anything.
@Tariq Shah: Tariq Shah, Salutations. Pakia and Afghania are NOT separate nations. The two are ONE NATION UNDER GOD: United Islamic Republics. Every nation has the right to control its borders; but Pakia and Afghania are ONE NATION. Every Paki has the soul of an Afghan; the Pakis are the most Afghanised nation on earth. The Afghans are the unconquered Pakis (neither the Ruskis nor the Brutish ruled them) and the Pakis are recovering-from-slavery Afghans (from British slavery). Now raise your right arm and repeat after me: I will honour the heritage of Kutub-ud-Abak, al-Hajvery al-Ghaznawi (Data Ganj Baksh), Mujadad alif-Sani, and the Khilji, the Tughlaq, the Lodhi and the Sur among many others; so help us God.
@Adnan: How is respecting your own internal borders make them our colony? How many Pakistanis are in Afghanistan to make them our colony?
If anything, we have become their colony and I am upset about it, who cares about Afghan Anger, you should care more about yourself and Pakistani anger.
Pakistanis care about everyones anger but their own, its time for Pakistanis to get their way and we dont want Afghans, we dont want to interfere in Afghanistan, we just want Afghans to go back to Afghanistan and seal the border, what is wrong with asking this? Every nation in the world does this expect us, we think we are the guardians of the Islamic world and Pakistan is a hotel for all the worlds Muslims, any wonder we have so much terrorism and our passport is hated everywhere? When will wake up and stop this foolishness, no Muslim country will allow us free visa and passage and you want to make Afghanistan a land that is sick have free travel to Pakistan, what do you think will come in? Scientists, doctors, engineers, researchers, economists, what?
Just plain uneducated, poor, manourished, disease ridden, job seekers who will compete with our job seekers and in the end turn to criminality, rob, rape, and kidnap Pakistanis and then return to Afghanistan to hide.....wake up you foolish people.
@Imran Mohammad: No sir it smacks of ground realities, I am a pashtun myself and our entire family is sick and tired of taking care of these thankless trouble making criminal Afghans, how many Afghans have you welcomed to your house? My grandfather gave a house to 3 families of refugees back in the 80s for free for many years when the Afghans left, they even took the doors and fans and anything they could take with them....talk with some experience, not emotionally like Imran.
@SalSal: No but they are serious businessmen with proven track record of over 20 years of running the nation and a large province....we dont need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to keep an eye on our politicians and expect they do a better job, let us not celebrate mediocrity as people of Karachi have done with MQM...... MQM does flashy developments and people go wah wah and days later things break down....expect the govt to deliver, dont just wish and hope for it.
Karachi has been destroyed by the MQM, Lahore is a Jewel in comparison....I would elect Nawaz Sharif over Imran anytime, just because we dont have time to train Imran and Co.
@Steven: absolutely, we must seal and mine the border with Afghanistan, only trade and travel through well administred passages like any civilized country. Can we Pakistanis go to any Muslim country without visa or passport? Why do we tolerate the unrestricted movement of Afghans?
This is crazy, its a broken, unsupervised country awash with weapons and drugs and terrorists and Imran wants open borders? We need to send him to Afghanistan so he can wake up.
Afghans are very cunning, they grow opium which provides them 15x return on investment overgrowing onions and tomatos, etc....after harvesting they come to Pakistan and buy everything from wheat, sugar, vegetables etc leaving our people hungry, so they are making hay on both ends, making mega profits in opium etc and then buying cheap Pakistani commodities.
The border should be sealed, and instead of cash, Pakistan must demand a barter system with Afghanistan where they can buy wheat in exchange for say onions or tomoatos, let it be a fair level playing field. I am sorry, we dont need any more Afghans here, we have a huge overpopulation as it is.
Nawaz Sharif and Zardari may not be scientists, but at least they are not full of moronic ideas.
@Roshan: My friend, Afghans were the only nation to oppose the creation of Pakistan in 1947.... what was the excuse back then?
They will be only happy when we give them Balochistan and KPK....no thank you, let them be unhappy with us.
They can stay on their side of the border and we can stay on our side. Nothing good has ever come to Pakistan from Afghanistan despite our welcome to over 9 million....yes 9 million unofficial figures of Afghans residing peacefully in Pakistan.
These people are thankless, land grabbing and opportunists and despite our sacrifices support India, if you support them, why not move to Kabul. I will gladly pay your travel expense.
Imran Khan's Ideas are very basic and genuine without any make-up and coloring. We must not forget that there are sizable tribes and families that are divided between Pakistan & Afghanistan & so travel, trade and marry across the border like there is no border for them. These people are the one who are paying the price of border patrol, the terrorist, smugglers and drug traffickers cross the border with no problem. After all: Trade is good for both countries. We need Afghan crops of fruits and they need our cloth & leather goods. Beside, a border that you can't put your finger on in a map is better off open than controlled. Let these people live & trade freely like in Europe or in old times. We over the years have tested & seen that a geographical border only brought us hatred, cultural depravity , poverty, disease (due to gene-pool trap) and lack of control over the people. There should be a consortium set-up now to study into this, outside the norms of modern methods of government which are not very successful themselves.
From one perspective, Pakistan is already suffering from poverty, lack of educational resources, employment opportunities and such. Having 'open border' would mean an ever increasing burden on the already depleting resources. Bad move I would say.
Silk Route Part II
Those who criticizing Ik have no idea about afgan and pak relation.if america goes out of afghanistan and then free border with pak .then you will see the most trusted partner will be afghanistan.
Welcome more Taliban:)!
That will not be a good idea. You know how many taliban and extremist/terrorists will cross that border??? Opening the border is like asking for Pakistan to be destroyed. Look what happened when Zia ul HAq opened the border! Thats when all these crazy extremists came to Pakistan. Keep the border closed and kick out all extremists that is what needs to happen.
@Hassam what about the millions of Pakistanis who have family across the border in India? Should we also open the border against India and remove all military from there? After all, India recognizes the international border between Pakistan and India, something that Afghanistan has never done.
Is there a border between Pakistan and Afhanistan, which Afghanistan recognises. Imran Khan is not an idiot, by making such a statement he wants Afghanistan to recognise the so called Durand line. Mr Khan you are living in a dysfunctional cuckoo land? Let the supremo first decide as to how Pakistan is going to get rid of the yanks and the CIA, as well as have a democracy in the country. Pakistan is on the verge of having an anarchist Govt., made up out of anarchy and for the anarchists?
Rex Minor..
Only Punjabis here are eager to open border with Afghanistan, like Imran Khan who is practically a Punjabi as well, we Pakhtuns who have suffered greatly in KP because of refugees, kalashnikov culture, drug smuggling and Taliban want NO MORE AFGHANS coming to Pakistan.
Afghans however are welcome to go to Punjab where love for them and Taliban still continues.
@Faizan: Dear can you get visa for any muslim country? Try it and all air from your muslim brotherhood baloon will leak out.Good Luck
@Amjad: Amjad, Salutations. Most Pakis do not hate Afghania. Some might; but then some Pakis might even hate Pakia. In 1947, the unrepresentative Royal Government of Afghania did vote against Pakia joining the United Nations. But then what can you expect from a non-representative bunch? . Also, you must realize that over the last 60 years both Afghania and Pakia have UNFORTUNATELY been governed by Mafia gangs of one hue or the other: royal-blue, red; khaki or mufti. Ignored totally was the will of the Paki and Afghan peoples. In fact, not only was the will of the people ignored but propaganda was used to saw hated between the peoples. . Let it now be resolved that the Paki and Afghani people will create the United Islamic Republics, and accept to pay the necessary price for this endeavor. Remember, recently, East Germany and West Germany amalgamated and the former West Germany has had to pay a huge financial cost for this union. In Nation building such cost has to be paid. Before that, when Bismarck united Germany , the necessary social reforms (pension kasse, etc) that enticed people to unify were a heavy financial cost on the United German State; and states that were rich before the Union accepted the cost, also new ways were found to raise revenue to pay for the cost. . Do not underestimate the Afghan genius, the Afghan mettle, or the Afghan destiny. Jamal-din Afghani, Data Gang Baksh; Fate tested the mettle of the Afghans in establishment of the Sultanates of Delhi; and Afghan destiny has from the dawn of history had trysts with invaders and has prevailed, sometimes after years of struggle. . The common destiny of the Afghans and the afghanised peoples (Tajik, Hazara, Pakhtoon, Punjabi, Baluch, Sindhi) is the United Islamic Republics.
Imran Khan is not Pashtun nor does he have any connection to Pashtuns. His mother was a Punjabi speaking diluted Pashtun. I met him and he does not speak Pashto at all. He is not much of a politician either. He should have become a cricket analyst and pontificated about cricket on GEO TV. Poor guy is setting himself up for utter failure like the rest of his predecessors for the last 64 years.
Are you kidding? What about the open inflow of drugs and weapons that will result? No way I'm voting for PTI after reading this. We're still suffering from the mistakes of Zia ul Haq, and Imran Khan wants to rewind the clock. Please some sane-minded people in his party knock some sense into this guy; this is scary for us Pakistanis.
I like him very much but sometimes his ideas are to idealistic than realistic. Apparently, he is far off from the ground realities. He sound like an intellectual who can solve every problem of the world while sitting in his drawing room.
What a stupid and juvenile statement from Imran Khan !! And he wants to be the PM of Pakistan ? Well good luck Pakistanis - believe me you will need it if Imran succeeds.
Only for info for all:
Pak Afghan border has never been closed in last 60 years.....so how will anyone open it?
After reading all the comments I have started feeling that Imran thinks the the frontier province is more like afghanistan than pakistan. Does he want it to become a part of afghanistan one day.
Pakistani feel about Afghans the way Indians feel about Pakistanis. That pretty much sums it up.
Anyway, most Pakistanis believe Taliban are the real representatives of the Afghans, yet they fail to explain the refugees fleeing Taliban rule from Afghanistan.
If the Taliban do come to power, then there must be, ideally, no reason to close the border, right?
I cant wait to see that happen. That will be pretty funny to watch.
India has a close border with its troublesome neighbour, but will Pakistan?
This statement clearly suggest that IK is only fit for cricket and not for politics . He should seek help of Musarraf and Altaf to lead a govt. In Pakistan .
Is there actually any Border??? Ask the Pathans in the tribal belt, do they carry passports to come across???
Aoa. who is criticiting CAPTAN. They have no idea what American and Indian Agencies are going on. what they have plance in afghanistan. they have eye's on afghan reserved assets. They have give permission only indian and american campanies to work there. Now a days American have built their own army consist of (Pakistan,Afghanistan, Uzistan Etc). They these people for their task. inshort , beloved pakistani's must open their eye's. Now. CAPTAN is a only leader in pakistan. who SAVE THE PAKISTAN. ALLAH MAY HELP HIM. AMEEN
Imran, for the first time, I disagree with you. Most bacteria present in our country right now is because Zia allowed them in - at the same time Iran sealed their borders and they are living in peace.
Please we should worry about our internal problems and tehn about neighbours and leave th Afghanis people alone we have already messed their country lets not mess ours. Lets follow interntaional norms of borders.
Only Musharraf!! that's it.
When the survey said it is difficult to cordoned the whole border or barb wired, Musharraf said "LET US START MINING IT".
What is wrong with opening borders with Afghanistan? 1) Its a Muslim country 2) Its our neighboring country 3) High business potential for local businesses
we can be soo called 'allies' with the west but ignore the Muslim countries in our backyard? no wonder us Muslims are humiliated in the world because of this stance. There is no such thing as unity among us.
Afghan-Pakistan border was open for 50 years. why people confused pre 9/11 era with post 9/11. if the war is over everything will be fine. i completely support IK. things cant go further worse, instead of complicating things further, Pakistan should do what we should have done long ago, support the general public of Afghanistan, instead of any group. a strong and peaceful Afghanistan means strong and peaceful Pakistan.
@Roshan Mate i do agree with your statement. Co-operation can be a better way. And thats the only way too b.t.w but honestly all people over there dont think like you. And that is the problem. We can join hands, make trevelling requirement back and forth easily, seal the border but for 6 very air tight points for trade and people to get by and the get through after getting their biometrics done. Lot of things can be done. So many, that potential is unlimited. But, leaders at both sides...... And by the way its wrong to say that v r feeding kabulis and etc. V r not they at best came and worked hard, v v hard infact and earned living for them. Dont treat people that way. anad they spend the money here which they earn..... And we are making lot of money through lot of contracts and job v r getting in afghanistan. Please keep this in mind!
IK has once again proved that he is HAWKISH when it comes to regional politics , he has once again showed his weakness and short sighted vision which happens to be blinded with religiouds sentiments. Lets have open borders with India first , they have more common and smooth borders with us than we have with the afghans , we can share and gain more from INDIA than the Afghanistan
It doesn't solve any problems it makes situation worst. The only thing newly govt should do punish traitors severely, keep this country clean from spies and no one should be above the law even its Head of the State or Head of the Parliament.
Imran is merely advocating an open border sometime in the future. What is so wrong with that? We have enough in common with Afghan people to benefit from this arrangement. We cannot fight with everyone all the time. And perhaps only a few of you know that in late 50s there were attempts to form a confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I read about it in Aslam Khattak's (Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan) book called A Pathan Odyssey.
Wish I am wrong, I lately feel that Mr Imran Khan will turn out to be Mohammad Tuglak of Pakistan. Rest time will tell...Best of Luck Mr Khan and all the best to Pakistan.
Imran Khan slowly unveiling...lolzzz!!! Aur karo support PTI ko..... Open borders mean free access to extremists in Pakistan....and no visa requirements for those who want to go to Afghanistan on crash terrorism course.....
...and Kaptaan Khan continues to live in his fantastic 'Wonderland'
Good Idea Khan Sab.
Am a Anti Imran, but i wish to state here that "what imran says is inevitable".
There will be a flood of Afghans (Refugees) who will come into Pakistan once Americans leave. This is because there will be a huge civil war and Talibs will try to take over Afghanistan. Iran and other neighbours of Afghanistan will not allow Refugees to come into their country and only Pakistan will. So, what`s the point in maintaining borders?
@Faheem Tassadaq: I agree that the border is already open. So why not let it be open for the purpose of treating brother like a brother. Is that not going to serve the main purpose of defeating any animosity that exists between us? It is all about changing the mind set. The policies of the past has not worked and will not work. I do not see anything wrong in trying this.
Looks like Imran Khan needs a crash course in foreign policy and international affairs.
Yes let's open borders, all borders starting with Kashmir, India, China, Afghanistan, Iran all the way from Bangladesh to Turkey and have Asian Economic Unity (c.f. old ECC). Maybe it can translate into Asian Union eventually. Most powerful economic and political block having the largest number of Budhists, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in the World. But first we must learn to respect and tolerate each others belief and learn to live in peace. Pakistanis can start by setting an example in their own country! One can always dream!
@Arindom: Its becomes funnier if you try to get into North Korea. You may then understand the meaning of closed border.
@Arindom: Why have they built those walls, razor wires and have 24 hrs patrolling of "every inch" etc etc then?, may be because it drops the flow by up to 90%? .. and that is more than enough in our case. Any one willing to come for education, family visits or business etc can come after getting valid visa only, We are already in a war like situation like it or not. This selective security only in front of Army areas will lead us no where.
Open border is a great initiative.
It makes no difference. Afghans don't recognize the Durand Line anyway and Pakistan considers Afghanistan as its 5th State.
Actor Salman Khan, Aamir Khan always claim in interviews of their Afghan origin, they never say they have a Pakistani lineage :)...Even SRK who claims tio hail from Peshawar calls himself an Afghan..... everyone knows that Pasthun's are Afghan and so is Imran Khan and Afghan man settled in Pakistan.... Without Pakhtuns/Afghans, Pak is ZERO...big ANDA
@Tariq shah "he will sell the nation"wake up brother,the nation(if you want to call it)has been sold long time ago.
@Roshan . Salutations, Roshan Except for the narrow-minded and misguided Pakis, it is recognised that since the time of Mahmud of Ghazna, Shahab-ud-Din of Ghor, and Kutub-ud-Din Abak, the people of Punjabia, Sindhia, and Baluchia are totally Afghanised. The Sufi Saints either from Afghania (or even when Turkic themselves totally Afghanised) infused the Afghan Spirit and created a new humanity, based on ETHNICITY. . The Durand line dividing the Islamic Republic of Pakia from the Islamic Republic of Afghania is a vestige of colonialism that followed a policy of DIVED AND RULE. . It is indeed time to bring the divided people together: United Islamic Republics, a Nation under God. .
Wait a moment, people who call themselves liberal or enlightened otherwise, are opposing the idea of open borders!!!!!!!!!!!! What a shame and sheer ignorance. The stupid comments of so-called "drawing room liberal and secular" really disgust me. How easily they have submitted to the idea of colonial borders declare by imperialism?????
Get some education and grow up. Do not reject open borders just because Imran Khan is saying the same.
Not only should the border between Pakia and Afghania be opened, IT SHOULD BE ELIMINATED. I laud IK for starting to bring about an awareness of the ONENESS of the Paki-Afghan peoples.
Historical evidence suggests that Pakis are the most Afghanised people on earth. The Sufi Saints, the Adventurers, the Kings who can from Afghania or through Afghania made the Paki people who and what they are today. I say through Afghania because even the Turks (mélange: Mongol, Tartar, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik), who stepped foot on lands of the Paki Republic (within Pakia or presently under Hindi occupation) were Afghanised.
There is no hatred between the Afghan and the Paki: it is only sibling rivalry. The outer borders of Paki and Afghan Republics were determined by colonial and imperial occupiers: respectively Brutish and Russian, while the internal boundary, called the Durand Line is even more artificial, it splits family from family and tribe from tribe, AND SIBLING FROM SIBLING.
its already open mr over simplistic khan
Imran must work to make his province peaceful first. Taliban must respect the Constitution of Pakistan and stop their terrorist activities.
if blochistan & afghanistan could be brought from turmoil into prosperity. the turkistan states the ECO should have european union like border which means free trade travel.
We should let afghanistan and turkestan states come out from islolation into globalization.
European model should be made to keep peace at near and war afar. From the european turkey to central asia pakistan. we can have asian model for prosperity & union.
People will benefit from open border free trade, the ECO organization can jointly fight the insurgent and druglords. people should have oppurtunity to work here than leave for europe. making the standard of highliving and keeping western way of development to keep our workforce here & military not so high in budget.
imran khan is totally out of mind...new zia ulhaq is cming for pakistan.. so b prepared for civil martial law..
If you think you can control ' zero tolerance ' the flow of drugs from Afghanistan into Pakistan , then decide if you want an open border.
Secondly , why is IK wasting his time talking to nobodies, and yes this Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammed Umar Daudzai,is a nobody in the big picture. And that also a telephone conversation. Wait till you get elected; clean up your house(Pakistan) before you start talking to people outside the country on what is good and bad for the region.
@Roshan, it's the other way round to be honest, it is india who is obsessed with Pakistan hence so many of their consulates.
@Roshan: The majority of Pakistanis want nothing to do with Afghanistan or Taliban.
@Mastuj: Before the USSR invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan had open border with Afghanistan. And there were apparently no problems.
@Roshan: One thing i don't Understand why u r having soft corner for India, Isn't this a fact India is our worst enemy and it has occupied Kashmir and interfere in Baluchistan , Isn't this the fact India's influence in Afghanistan rise after 2008 and we saw lot of suicide bombing isn't that questionable? What is India's role in Afghanistan? Correct ur figures India has 11 consulates near Afghan-Pak border
@Tariq Shah, @Ambreen: PTI is all about "tabdeeli" (Change). Change from the status quo - which is to support factions instead of the Afghan people. What good has that given us? Great leaders have the ability to change perception. IK will deliver, Inshallah. You go ahead Sir. Me along with 70% of Pakistanis are with you!
If you guys take sometime and read the full news before making comments, It doesn't sound bad as the Heading of the news is. anyways, dont worry Khan is democratic guy, will consult first before going to any action.
Imran Khan we love you, we support you, ur vision is best, Yes Pak and Afghanistan should come more closer
Finally, he IK is showing his true colors :P @Ambreen nice to see there are few supporters of IK who are not trolling but weighing things rationally
So did Imran really say he wants an "open border" or is this something ET just assumed and blew up to make the headline? Kind of how a TV channel once said Imran said to put "India on the back burner" when he clearly did not. I love how people try to put words in Imran Khan's mouth. You gotta do something to make the guy lok bad right?
@Concerned: who said we are being isolated? Two veto powers support our stance and Pakistan is elected as member of security council, is it possible to get elected while being isolated, comon get ur facts right
I as a Punjabi first want right to live and move freely in my own country outside Punjab, peacefully and respectfully. Only then i can think about open border with any alien state.
Imran is all friendly about India because he is not familiar with their stall tacits on any kind of resolution. if he wins, the minute he gets the typical delay tacitcs, evasive maneuvers from Indian diplomacy on Indo-pak issues, Khan Sahib will do a 180 on the Mr. Nice Guy routine.
Just watch.
full disclosure, I support PTI.
comments of people like ambreen and tariq shah display the intellectual bankruptcy that resides in the heads of our educated class...IK probably expressed his desire for open borders at a future point in time when both our nations have gone beyond all this negativity and meddling in each others affairs and are prepared to deal with one another as sovereign responsible nations! European nations went to two world wars with millions of lives lost in the not too distant past...today despite their war torn past and cultural differences they have embraced open borders, free movement, a common currency etc. get out of your parochial thinking people lest u wish to remain followers of abu jahl!!!!
secondly just how stupid some of these educated people commenting above are is witnessed by their willingness to withdraw their vote or support for a party based on just one news sound bite rather than taking a holistic view of party and national policy! you are not going to agree a 100% with what Imran Khan and PTI has to offer but as Ronald Reagan once said "If you agree with someone 80% of the time, that person is an ALLY, not a 20% enemy"
who people vote for is their choice, I just hope they exercise their brains a little more and base their decisions on reading more than one article or one policy!
Its good to know that Afghans hate Pakistan ( the Pakistan as represented by the Pak army and ISI who have supported Afghan Taleban and similar extrimist elements for many many years ) . Pak army/ISI will not change, support of criminal Afghan Taleban by ISI will not change nor will the hatered that Afghans feel for Pakistan's acts .
Really Funny when you talk of "Open Borders"!! The term is just a ploy for Civilian consumption. Borders can never be Closed!! It is a blatant lie that authorities tell ignorant masses. Even at the height of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, with two superpowers on each side, electric fences, lights, machine guns, walls , that too just a few Kilometers in the middle of a Populated City couldnot be Closed!! even now USA with Billions spend, 20 feet walls, razor wires, 24 hr patrolling of every inch, helicopters, drones and satellites cannot 'Close" the Mexican border!!!!
Do you think Pakistan can "Close" the fluid, un defined, un inhabited, mountainous Afghan Border??????
Don;t be taken for suckers by Politicians......
@Tariq Shah:
He's also not the same recycled and corrupt politicians we've seen in Pakistan. At this point in time, I'm ready for new changes.
@scientist and rolfcopter
Why this obsession with India and trying to destroy its so called eleven consulates? First of all there aren't eleven consulates at all! two in fact one in jalalabad and one in kandahar. They have one in zahidan(iran)as well, but i see no pakistanis protest about that!
Anyway I wish pakistanis with a pure economic view who claim that afghan drain their resources should consider this: 1.pakistans population is 180 million right? three million afghans who are mainly labourors, shopkeepers, drivers and business owners. Do they get any money from the corrupt government who according to some has done 8 trilion corruption in just four years? 2.isn't this a fact that pakistan gets money from UNHCR for the refugees? 3.pakistani generals like the great spineless general of all time musharaf and likewise many in the past(zia, ns, bb etc etc) have sold afghans many many times for money. 4.during our war with russians pakistani army got weaponry including planes from usa and money from saudi and other countries 5. i remeber peshawar being a small city with just one road. it became a big city with big neigbourhouds and town ships thanks to PAYING afghans. if you don't believe this ask your fellow peshawarites.
Finally i think for learned people it should be very easy to understand that both afg and pak need each other. we in afg have abundance of mineral wealth and you in pak have abundance of human capital with good scientists, doctors etc. Why can't we join hands and improve both our countries. A notion Dr Pryanka will be jealous of?
culturally kp is closer to afghanistan than PUNJAB.
If u think about it logically pashtuns belong to Afghanistan where they are in majority. So they need to seal the border from kp right unto fata so that they can have free movement of goods, ideas and people.
Imran Khan has a habit of simplifying everything. Obviously, mechanisms will/should be in place to check who is coming to Pakistan. It is a risky strategy given the animosity between the two countries, but we will have to bite a few bullets to move forward in diplomacy, whether this is with the United States, Afghanistan or India. We are being increasingly isolated internationally because of our current Foreign Policy, our strategy must start changing and we must engage with our enemies. Imran Khan is merely replicating what the Europeans (who hated each other) did - talk to each other and come to a settlement. Nevertheless, my concerns relate to: drugs, weapons, extremism and poverty coming into Pakistan from Afghanistan - how will Imran Khan address this issue?
It would be better to understand what he means by 'open boarder policy' first, before jumping to conclusions.
The AfPak border is not more a demarcation on ground and afghans have been crossing over to Pakistan on their will for last thirty years. Same goes for criminals in Pakistan. A suggestion to open border is not going to change much as per our ground realities. But I do agree about Afghans Pakistan-bashing (from my personal experience). IMO, they have all the reasons to do that after what our establishment did to their country.
Open border does not mean Free or No border. Conditions do apply
We should not take him seriosly. As some one said he changes his colors like a chamelion and would say things in front of each section what they want to hear.
Opening the borders does not mean, there will be complete absence of security personnel. It only means, visa free entry. And of the 3 million Afghans in Pakistan, hardly anybody came inside with a visa. Imran Khan is right in saying an open border should be allowed BUT the borders should be demarcated and people entering should be checked for security purposes. This happens in Gaza and Israel and in Canada and the US. People cross the border everyday to work and then return at the end of the day BUT they are certainly checked. We CANNOT treat Afghanistan like a colony. The Afghans hate us because we treat their country like a colony. Instead, we should support a democratically elected government (reflecting the say of the people) and encourage trade, education and economic ties. Do this and see how the Afghans and Pakistanis become friends again. After all, no country is as close to Afghans culturally, linguistically and more importantly, religiously as Pakistan.
I have always liked him like most of the Indians do. But whenever he opens his mouth I have to run for cover because I am sure he messes up. I keep thinking 'abhi ghafla karega oh my God'. Atleast Hamid Karzai studied political sciences from India. Imran Baba think before you talk if not about India atleast about your other neighbours.
@Ambreen: just by one statement, do not make your mind of not voting, come on
I want to believe in him as a leader, but what this man says becomes more and more worrying everyday (or is it ET's liberal propaganda?). If people want to travel to meet family members across the borders, they should do so through authorized checkpoints like at any other border - opening up borders to allow free passage to everyone will only invite the wrong crowd from Afghanistan (and there's many of them there) to set up their activities in Pakistan, as if there isn't already enough of it here
@Roshan:
Even though Imran Khan is right, there is still a growing concern, which I believe is correct, among Pakistanis about the 11 Indian Embassy's across the border in Afghanistan. Just as Indians blame everything on ISI, we the Pakistanis don't trust Indian establishment or RAW either.
So I hope Imran has a plan to contain Indian conspirators while still be able to let some free air blowing across the afghan border.
Cheers!
No thank you Khan Sb .. We have already suffered enough at their hands.. By the way the border is already very much open and your wish is being fulfilled ever since the Soviet War :)
I agree but Indian consulates should be destroyed first
Why? Do not we have enough refugees and weapons from Afghanistan already?!
At least someone in leadership is willing to address the problems of the region. I am a Punjabi but I hate the fact that British used FATA area and Pathans in general as a strategic ditch against potential invasion from Afghanistan and somehow we ended up continuing that policy. We supported a regime in Afghanistan against the will of locals which is morally and politically questionable move. Think of it strategically, Afghanistan is one of the weakest links in the region and without peace and prosperity in Afghanistan, the region will always be lagging behind its true economic potential. Nobody is saying we should have open borders in the short-term but having controlled free movement across the border for people might not be too bad. Controlled open borders exist in parts of Europe, South America, and North America. In the end, this is the most strategic way of getting rid of Taliban altogether; by facilitating deeper integration of grass root population of Afghans with Pakistan or at least the shared border area.
This statement smacks of so much hatred and prejudice that , I think, no amount of
I do not agree with the statement of Mr. Imran Khan and have serious reservations to have open borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
During the former Soviet War with Afghanistan, the former military dictator Zia-ul-Haq welcomed Afghan people with open arms.
The result was that not only that crimes were increased but also drugs from Afghanistan was smuggled in Pakistan and since then the Kalashnikov culture has been introduced which till date is unending besides uncounted Afghan nationals illegally became Pakistani nationals.
In case if Mr. Imran Khan will win the forthcoming elections and will become the Prime Minister of Pakistan and if he allow to open border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the consequences will be much more worst than of Zia's era.
@bangash: And what about fanatic terrorism supporters? Don't u think also want to conquer Pak after defeating US
@Tariq Shah:
Sell our nation down the road?
Would there be anything left to sell after our all time favorites; Sharifs, Bhuttos, Zardaris etc.? I don't think so.
It is good that Imran is talking sense because somebody needs to after all. US & Brits used to be the biggest enemies, kept fighting for a century "after" US revolution. Ultimately some sense prevailed and they progressed. Now its visa free zone. What is wrong with us? Do we have any thinking of where we want to take this war on terror drama with us? Or is it all just going with the flow and not thinking out of the box? Who are the extremists anyway? The people, their land, we always used and never given the rights in anyway but, of course, expect all the civilized norms from them?
With this thinking, we are on the suicidal path!
Those criticising IK here clearly have no idea of the relationship between the Pakhtun tribes on each side of the border and have probably never been there. Keeping an open border will be very beneficial for the tribes maintaining peace in that area.
Pakhtuns want Kabulis to go back and here Imran Khan is opening the border to let Kabulis flood back in!
@Tariq shah Ever wondered why afghans hate pakistan? I think we know all why. First time I see in imran khan a sensible politician in pakistan who has sensed that supporting the common man in Afghanistan and pursuing a benign or ideally a positive policy towards its closest(culturaly,linguistically, historically) neighbour is in fact GOOD for pakistan too. Who is willing and able to deny this? As far as india is concern: afg will be less keen about india if they had a supporting direct neighbour. I think our decent pakistani brothers should not believe what isi or the military wants them to brlievr. We in afg will once again start loving pak if they treat us with same respect they would want for themselves.
There are some people whose purpose of life is sit and wait for Imran Khan to say something before pouncing on him. In my opinion, what he has said makes absolute sense. We have been interfering in Afghanistan, that is a fact. Did it help or hurt? Secondly, what he is saying is that our relationship should be detached from relations with other countries ( India etc). What is wrong with these statements? As far as opening of border is concerned,no where did he say that he will let terrorists roam free across the border, back and forth. If some people are ignorant of the fact, let me educate them that there are tribes and families split between Afghan-Pakistan, they go back and forth all the time. What's wrong with suggesting that opening border under some mutually-agreed mechanism? Come on guys, get a life, Imran Khan bashing won't get you anything.
I don't agree with much of what Mr. Khan says. This however, I wholeheartedly agree with. This is immensely important for thousands of Pushtuns who have family on either side of the legal demarcations and have traveled back and worth for centuries.
I dream of when one day the hostilities on our eastern front cease and our borders soften so families from Kashmir, Punjab, Karachi etc can visit each other for spending weekends and stuff.
Peace.
This man has no doubt reached the end of his wits
@tariq shah Nawaz Sharif, Zardari are scientists? Researchers? This is just his wish. You think the army will let him do that? Vote for the main stream parties and remember to start preparing your kaffan, like Hassan Nisar said. Last thing this country wants is another looter. Don't expect Imran to be perfect!
and khan sb why not remove the military deployment from Afghan border so that all extremists get an open and Safe passage to infiltrate and conduct terrorist activities within Pakistan, Is this Your Agenda?, Seriously i will not vote for you after reading this