Pakistan asks US to ensure return of Afghan refugees

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has demanded the United States to ensure return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

Pakistan had started fencing for securing its border with Afghanistan because it was imperative for combating terrorism, he said talking to a private news channel.

Afghanistan should focus on the ‘border management’ and fulfill its responsibility in that regard, he said.

Expressing serious concerns over the situation in the neighboring country, he said the Allied forces equipped with modern weapons and having thousands of soldiers could not establish peace in Afghanistan.

According to the reports, the groups of Daesh were operating in eight to nine provinces of Afghanistan, he said.

Expressing dismay over deteriorating peace situation in Afghanistan, he said a huge part of the country was not under the control of the Afghan government.

Pakistan had extended a lot of cooperation to United States on different occasion in past but our country had to face huge loss rather than benefits, he said.

Some foreign forces did not want to see Pakistan as a powerful state but Pakistan could not be intimated with threats of any country, he said. Pakistan Armed forces were fully capable to defend the motherland, Khawaja Asif added.

Nearly 9,000 ton opium was being cultivated in Afghanistan, which was an alarming situation, he said.

It was strange that a huge cache of narcotics amounting 150 billion dollar was being smuggled from Afghanistan in the presence of Allied forces.

Khawaja Asif said the US had failed to establish peace in Afghanistan. The US was blaming Pakistan after its failure in Afghanistan, he added.

Pakistan had asked the US to provide actionable information but no such information was being provided to our country, he said.

To a question regarding meeting of K. Yadhav with his family, he said, “On humanitarian grounds, Pakistan had given the permission of the meeting.”

Voicing concerns over the situation in Occupied valley of Kashmir, he said India was involved in the massive human rights violations and killing of Kashmiri people.