Pakistan government is not spokesperson for Taliban, says Imran Khan

In his feedback to Afghan media representatives that have been aired on Thursday, Khan additionally mentioned that Pakistan could have good relations with whoever the Afghans select.

“What the Taliban are doing or aren’t doing has nothing to do with us. We aren’t accountable, neither are we spokespersons for the Taliban,” Khan was quoted as saying by the Daybreak newspaper.

Khan’s remarks have been a continuation of Pakistan’s repeated warnings that it could not settle for the accountability if it was blamed for any setbacks within the Afghan peace course of.

Below a take care of the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a dedication by the militants that they might stop extremist teams from working in areas they management. US President Joe Biden has introduced that American troops shall be overseas by August 31.

The Taliban dominated Afghanistan by brute power from 1996 to 2001 when the US invasion toppled their authorities.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October, 2001 after the Taliban refused handy over al-Qaeda‘s chief Osama bin Laden, who was behind the September 11, 2001, terror assaults in America.

Khan once more distanced Islamabad from the developments in Kabul, saying: “All we wish is peace in Afghanistan.”

He mentioned that the Afghans had a option to make: to both pursue the US-backed army answer or to pursue a political settlement the place there’s an inclusive authorities. “(The latter) is the one answer,” he mentioned.

“There are three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, virtually all of them are Pashtuns and most could have sympathies with the Taliban. How is Pakistan purported to examine who’s going over there to combat when we now have about 30,000 folks crossing into Afghanistan each day. How is Pakistan going to examine that?” Khan requested.

Khan mentioned it was not doable for Pakistan to sift via the refugee camps to seek out out who was pro-Taliban and who was not, including that till just lately there was no bodily border between the 2 international locations.

“The Durand Line was imaginary,” he mentioned, referring to the two,640-kilometre-long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He mentioned that Pakistan has accomplished 90 per cent of the border fencing.

“We are attempting our greatest, however it’s not doable to carry Pakistan accountable when you will have over three million refugees right here,” he mentioned.

He mentioned that it was not in Pakistan’s curiosity to have civil warfare escape in Afghanistan. “What curiosity might Pakistan have in backing somebody to take over Afghanistan?” he requested.

What is evident is that nobody get together will be capable of take over Afghanistan, he mentioned, including that within the 90s Pakistan had pursued the coverage of ‘strategic depth’ because it was cautious of Indian affect in Afghanistan.

“In these days we did attempt to have favourites. Now, and particularly in my authorities, we imagine that Afghanistan can by no means be managed from the skin,” he mentioned.

So Pakistan could have good relations with whoever the Afghans select, he mentioned. “We now have no favourites now.”

Commenting on the kidnapping and torture of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter in Islamabad, Khan mentioned that authorities had charted out the precise path taken by the sufferer. He mentioned that taxi drivers have been traced and interrogated.

“Sadly, what the ambassador’s daughter is saying and what the cameras present don’t add up. She says she was put in a taxi, taken away and crushed up. However there’s a image of that taxi and she or he is sitting there and she or he is okay,” Khan mentioned.

He mentioned that the probe workforce from Afghanistan could be handed over all the knowledge.

Khan mentioned that Pakistan had nothing to do with why 150,000 NATO troops didn’t achieve Afghanistan. “It is precisely like what the People did in Vietnam. After they failed in Vietnam, they blamed insurgents from Cambodia or Laos.”

He mentioned that Pakistan was informed at one level that the Taliban’s major sanctuaries have been in North Waziristan. “They stored pushing us to take motion. Lastly after 4 or 5 years, we took motion [but] a million folks have been internally displaced […] what distinction did it make?”

He mentioned that the People ought to have spoken to the Taliban from a place of energy. “When there have been 150,000 NATO troops, that was the time to speak to [the Taliban]. How can they anticipate the Taliban to compromise when an exit date has been given and some thousand troops are left?”

Khan additionally questioned what the US would obtain working from Pakistan when it couldn’t obtain its aim in Afghanistan for the final 20 years.