ISLAMABAD: In a scathing attack on the coalition government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for its “irresponsible statements” against Taliban-led Afghan government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday warned that if the new Afghan government decides to stop cooperating with Pakistan, it could lead to a never-ending war against terrorism.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘terrorism’ organised by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, via a video link from Lahore, the former prime minister alleged: “The PDM ministers are making highly irresponsible statements that they are planning to attack Afghanistan and if the Afghan government stops cooperation with Pakistan, we will have a never-ending war on our hands”.

Khan who has been a stanch critic of the war in Afghanistan, called for cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying there is no military solution to the Afghan issue except dialogue.

The PTI chief said that the coalition government was not focusing on talks with its Afghan leadership and that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s first foreign trip should have been to the war-torn neighbouring country.

He said that military operations never bear fruit and they are part of peace agreements, as he reiterated that the government should engage with the Taliban to avoid terror activities on Pakistani soil.

“We had a golden opportunity when the US left Afghanistan,” he said, adding, “We tried to improve relations with the then Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani and decided not to intervene in Afghan affairs”.

But once the Taliban took over, he added, the then PTI government also kept engaging with them and Pakistan helped evacuate foreigners from Afghanistan.

He maintained that the federal government had withheld funds for erstwhile tribal districts and did not pay attention to the resettlement of 30,000-40,000 TTP members from Afghanistan.

The former prime minister said slammed the “imported regime” of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the rising terror incidents, saying during his tenure, the National Security Committee (NSC) had decided to support the tribal areas, but the incumbent regime is paying no heed to it.

“The incumbent rulers are focusing on ending the graft cases against themselves. They have not focused on the economy,” he said, claiming that due to the government’s policies, there has been a rise in terrorism.

Khan said that controlling the borders is the federal government’s responsibility and noted that “I had already said that when you can’t control your economy, you cannot control terrorism”.

He said that the police do not stand a chance against the terrorists due to their weapons, adding the terrorists are equipped with modern weapons which the US had left behind.

In the same breath, he said that all stakeholders had sat down and were informed about the need for talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) and the plan to resettle their members.

Khan said that the time immediately after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was a “golden opportunity” to solve the TTP issue since the new Afghan government was “pro-Pakistan” and could exert influence on the TTP.

“A military operation can be a part of the overall peace settlement but it is never successful on its own,” he maintained.

He also blasted Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s “irresponsible” statements about Pakistan taking action against TTP hideouts in Afghanistan.

He also questioned why recent incidents at the Pak-Afghan border were not taken up with the Afghan government, reiterating that another war against terrorism would become a curse for the country if relations with Afghanistan deteriorated.

He said that the federal government would need to tread carefully and seek KP’s input on the overall terror situation. He said that Pakistan should not seek help from the US as it would lead to internal discord among locals if drone attacks were carried out. The PTI chief said terrorism was a very important issue for the country and could have greater consequences if not properly addressed, especially at a time when our economic conditions cannot bear it at all.

Speaking on the occasion, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) was the biggest challenge for his provincial government but he accomplished the gigantic task which paved the way for the restoration of peace in the militancy-hit area.

He came down hard on the federal government for halting the funds allocated for the erstwhile tribal areas, saying Rs5 billion were supposed to be released for the erstwhile Fata, but the incumbent regime is yet to proceed on it.

He also questioned whether not inviting the chief minister KP to an all-important meeting of the National Security Committee – which took place last week – was part of the regime change operation, through which the incumbent rulers were installed on the people of Pakistan.

Responding to the federal government’s allegations for the deteriorating law and order situation in the province due to the incompetence of his administration, he questioned: “If the performance of the PTI-led provincial government and its police, and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) was so appalling, why there was complete peace in the province before these people (the PDM) came to power through a ‘regime change operation’ last year in April”.

“If the operation regime change was meant to remove the then prime minister Imran Khan when the country was on a path to progress and development, why the incumbent rulers are hesitant to accept that it was due to you people (the PDM) the scourge of terrorism has surfaced once again”, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023