A senior Pakistani diplomat said on Friday that Pakistan must be part of attempts to forge a political solution in Afghanistan rather than simply be urged to kill extremists on its territory. His comments came about a month after US President Barack Obama said that Pakistan must step up its attempts to root out "terrorist safe havens" within its borders.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Zamir Akram, rejected the reliance on military options. "What you are asking us to do is to pull your chestnuts out of the fire and be the bad guys. So we kill them while you talk to them," he told journalists.
Some western officials and military leaders have suggested a deal with moderate Taliban in Afghanistan while the military offensive there continues. Akram underlined that the Taliban were part of native Pashtun tribes in the region and simply killing leaders in Pakistan's remote western frontier areas was not viable "because we have to live with these people in the future." "It is absolutely essential for us that we be part of this approach that is where you bring a political solution to Afghanistan and not be part of only a military approach," he added. "That's where the crux is."