Pakistan reiterates commitment to stable, peaceful Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, ARY News reported.

According to Foreign Office (FO), the foreign minister held a telephonic conversation with Acting Afghan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi.

The two foreign ministers discussed a range of issues of mutual concern, FO Spokesperson posted on her Twitter handle.

FM @BBhuttoZardari held a telephone conversation with Acting Afghan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi today. They discussed a range of issues of mutual concern. FM reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 15, 2023

Since the Afghan Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Kabul, Pakistan has seen a resurgence in terror attacks led by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Earlier on April 15, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Taliban rulers of Afghanistan also want to disentangle with the TTP, but this will take time.

Khawaja Asif warned the Afghan Taliban of strikes on terrorist hideouts inside Afghanistan if needed. “We will have to hit them because we cannot tolerate this situation for long.”

Asif said in the interview that he reminded the Taliban administration during his visit to Kabul last month “to live up to cross-border security commitments with Islamabad and stop terrorists from using Afghan soil to plan and carry out attacks on Pakistan” or “we will take action.”

Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan bearing the brunt of a wrong decision to become part of the war against terrorism. Asif termed it inconsequential to talk to Washington over the matter.

The interviewer asked whether Islamabad needed the help of the US in fighting terrorism in Pakistan. “I do not see any logic in that,” Pakistan’s defence minister said.