According to details, President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan wants assurance from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used against it, just as the Taliban has assured China and the United States. Afghanistan must have a government of the will of the Afghan people.
He expressed these views in an interview on TRT’s “Street Talk” program in Istanbul.
He said that the Taliban had assured China and the United States, and the same was expected for Pakistan. On the same principle, he hoped that the new government of Afghanistan would adopt the same approach with Pakistan.
He said that the same attitude was supported in the international values set out in the UN Charter. Regarding the prevention of terrorists, he said that Pakistan had erected a fence along the border with Afghanistan.
Responding to a question on recognizing the Taliban as the true representative of the Afghan people, the President said that the government would take any decision in consultation with other countries; first, we have to look at this emerging situation.
The President termed the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as hasty and said that Pakistan had always told the US that dialogue was the best solution and not war. He lamented the consequences of the Vietnam War or the aftermath of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
The President said that it has become fashionable to blame Pakistan for the situation in Afghanistan, but he clarified that the situation in Afghanistan was before the world; at that time, no country could play its role. The United States has spent کھ 2 trillion during its 20-year stay in Afghanistan and invested hundreds of billions in development. “It’s easy to find a blame game and a scapegoat,” he said.
Regarding Pakistan’s role in stabilizing the war-torn country, the President said that Pakistan wanted to restore peace in Afghanistan and was ready to play its constructive role. He said that Pakistan had suffered the most after four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and after the restoration of peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan will be the biggest country to achieve success.
He hoped that the issues would be resolved soon. “Pakistan hosted 4 million Afghan refugees, a move that should be remembered by the Afghan people as a gesture of goodwill,” he said. He said that Pakistan was in touch with China, Russia, Turkey, and the United States to implement the development agenda in the region. He said that India was playing the role of the conspirator, and it should not use the territory of any other country against Pakistan.
He expressed confidence in bilateral defense cooperation with Turkey but called for further enhancement of economic ties to harness its potential. He also mentioned Turkey’s unwavering support for Pakistan’s move on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, where serious human rights violations continue in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.