Targeting Pakistan over Afghan situation unfair: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday that certain quarters in the US were unfairly targeting Pakistan over what had happened inside Afghanistan.

In an interview with TRT World, the prime minister said there was complete shock and confusion even in Washington over the speed at which the Afghan army collapsed and the Taliban took over after the US troops withdrew.

He particularly referred to the recent debate on the Afghan debacle in the US Senate as the Taliban returned to power after twenty years.

The prime minister said the US lawmakers were "seeking scapegoats" and targeting Pakistan for their own confusion and policies.

The prime minister cautioned that if the Afghan people were left in limbo, the crisis was going to deepen.

Govt in talks with some TTP groups for reconciliation: PM Imran

About recognising the Taliban set up, the prime minister said that the Pakistan government was holding consultations and remained in discussion with all neighbouring countries.

He said the US has to recognise the new reality sooner or later.

Khan, to another question, said that during 2017, he met the US leadership and explained to them the situation in Afghanistan, but they were clueless.

"The US society had no idea of the situation in Afghanistan.

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"What happened now totally took them by surprise. You see in the US Senate, they have no idea,” he added.

The premier reiterated that there was no military solution to the Afghan issue as Afghan people did not accept decisions imposed by foreigners.

Elaborating, the prime minister said Pakistan suffered when it decided to side with the US.

"While on Afghan soil, there was collateral damage and drone attacks which led to the swelling of militant ranks. So the Taliban’s movement grew," he added.

Khan also denounced former US president George Bush’s threat after the 9/11 attacks, terming it an "imperialistic attitude" and "ridiculous policy".

"About 80,000 lives were lost, a huge chunk of the tribal population was displaced with hundreds of billions of losses to the fragile economy, while border areas were devastated. Pakistan made these sacrifices for the US," he added.

He said the well trained 3,00,000 Afghan army fully equipped with weapons could not resist the Taliban force, and Ashraf Ghani, the former president, along with his government functionaries also fled the country.

Khan also strongly rejected allegations that Pakistan had been assisting the Taliban in taking over Afghanistan.

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”You cannot control them from outside like the US tried to,” he added.

To another query, he said from Pakistan’s point of view, "an inclusive government means a stable Afghanistan after four decades of war".

“As well-wishers of Afghan people, we want them to be stable," he said.

About Pak-US ties, the prime minister said the two sides had been constantly in touch with each other, stressing that bilateral ties between the two sides had a long history in which there were ups and downs.

To a question, he said that the government is in talks with some factions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that are looking at peace and reconciliation with the country.

"There are different groups that form the TTP and some of them want to talk to our government for peace. So, we are in talks with them. It’s a reconciliation process," he said.

When asked if the government was negotiating with some of those TTP groups to lay down their arms, the premier responded: "Yes, and then we forgive them and they become normal citizens.

“I repeat, I do not believe in military solutions. I am anti-military solutions," responded Khan.

"I always believe that political dialogue is the way ahead, which I always believed was the case in Afghanistan.”

To a question whether Afghan Taliban were playing a role in the ongoing talks between the Pakistani government and the TTP, Khan said: “They are in a sense that talks are taking place in Afghanistan.

"In that sense, yes.”

When asked why the TTP was carrying out attacks on Pakistan's security forces when they were in talks with the government, Khan said it was just a "spate of attacks.”

“We might not reach some sort of conclusion or settlement in the end but we are talking," he added.

Earlier this month, President Arif Alvi also hinted at a conditional amnesty for members of the TTP provided they were not involved in any criminal activity and that they surrendered their arms and accepted the Constitution of Pakistan.

However, the president emphasised that the TTP still posed a threat to Pakistan.

Sharing a similar view, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also said this month that the Pakistani government would be "open to giving" a pardon to members of the TTP if they promise not to get involved in terrorist activities and submit to the Pakistani Constitution.