A top Pakistani diplomat, asked to comment about the capture by the Taliban of the Afghan city of Kunduz, has said that occupation of a part of Afghanistan by any group was "unacceptable" to his country. "Afghanistan is being run by a democratically elected and legitimate government and occupation of its territory by any group is unacceptable," Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday.
The foreign secretary called for avoiding the "blame game" and counselled restraint when questioned about the statement made by Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in the General Assembly in which he attempted to implicate Pakistan in Monday's attack on the strategic Afghan city. "Pakistan believes that the solution to the Afghan issue lies in further co-operation between Pakistan and Afghanistan," the foreign secretary said. "We should avoid blame game and find ways and means to find a lasting solution between the two countries."
Chaudhry said Pakistan stands for Afghan reconciliation and a peaceful negotiated settlement of all issues. "The solution does not lie in blame game, rather it lies in co-operation," the foreign secretary added. Pakistan, he said, would not respond to Abdullahj's statement and continue to exercise restraint. Answering a question, the foreign secretary said Pakistan would not allow use of its territory for any activity against any country.
Replying to a question, Chaudhry said Pakistan delegation was in contact with the Afghan officials and there was no downwards trend in the Pak-Afghan ties. He said United States and China also desired the reconciliation process to bear fruit, and contacts with Afghanistan were continuing without any break. About the security of Pakistan Embassy in Kabul, the Foreign Secretary said he had received a report that it had improved, and hoped that there would also be an end to flow of hostile Afghan statements.
To a question about the arrest of some ISIS terrorists belonging to Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary said his government believed that terrorism in any form or manifestation was not acceptable, and would not like any of its citizens to have any linkage with any terrorist organisation. If any such linkage is found, such people would be taken to task.
In his speech to the 193-member Assembly following Monday's attack on Kunduz, Chief Executive Abdullah called on Pakistan to keep its promise to crackdown on insurgents operating out of terror sanctuaries in the country.
"The presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks in Pakistan continue to cause trouble inside Afghanistan," Abdullah said. "The Haqqani network has been identified as a main culprit and needs to be dismantled as has been our demand in the past," he said. Abdullah said some of the attackers in Kunduz had come from abroad, and said, "We call on Pakistan to do what its leadership promised to us a few months ago when they agreed to crack down on known terror outfits."
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