Resolve issues in Pakistan before securing Afghanistan: Hina Rabbani Khar

Speaking in the ongoing three-day Karachi Literature Festival on Sunday afternoon, Rabbani said that the country should fix the issues in its own country before thinking about the security situation in other states.

Rabbani said that the country had compromised on national security for the sake of securing other countries.

“Go and resolve the crisis in Balochistan first before fixing Afghanistan”, Rabbani said.

“What is Pakistan’s business to decide what is good for Afghanistan”, she asked.

She added that the regime of former army chief General Zia-ul-Haq did worst than any other era in Pakistan as the seeds which were planted are bearing its fruits.

“In the Soviet-Afghan war, Pakistan was the only country which allowed its soils and minds to be used”, Khar said.

“All the countries in the Afghan war had exit strategies except for Pakistan. The collective failures of all institutions came on Pakistan”, she added.

She said that Afghan elite very easily found the way to blame Pakistan for what was going on in the country. She added that Afghanistan should be equally blamed for the way they were governing the country.

The former foreign minister said that denying people their right to benefit from what is theirs will affect their country as well.

Khar said that oil, electricity and water crisis were already at a high during the reign of former army chief General (retd.) Pervez Musharraf which had impacts on Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.

Khar said that the tax collection reforms in the current regime of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had failed drastically.

She also highlighted the importance of sealing borders in order to stop terrorists from entering into the country. She said that the country becomes a soft target when others are allowed to move into the country.

Commenting on drone strikes in the country, she said that the attacks were all about drawing the line. She said that a state should equip itself in order to deal with the terrorist threats instead of allowing different countries to do so.

She added that when she was speechless and didn’t know how to react when former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden was killed in the U.S. raids at Abbotttabad.