By Eman Alam
Pakistan has asserted that the Afghan Taliban regime was responsible for the delay in reopening the border and the suspension of bilateral trade, urging the group to stop “supporting terrorist outfits”.
In his weekly press briefing on Friday, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi noted that Islamabad had closed the border crossings with Afghanistan due to the Afghan regime’s consistent “support to Fitna al-Hindustan and Fitna al-Khawarij”.
“The onus of the delay in opening the border crossing rests with the Afghan Taliban. Similarly, the projects like TAPI and CASA-1000,” he said.
Pakistan closed the Torkham and Chaman borders with Afghanistan on October 12 after the Taliban forces, backed by their affiliated militants, attacked multiple border posts of Pakistan’s armed forces.
Since then, the crossings have remained shut, with the Torkham border briefly opened on November 1 to facilitate the repatriation of illegal Afghan refugees.
In today’s briefing, the FO spokesperson urged the Afghan Taliban regime to prevent its soil from being used for terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
Andrabi noted Pakistan’s repeated attempts to engage Kabul; however, he said that Islamabad “incurred loss of life” despite its sincere efforts.
He said that Pakistan had earlier segregated trade and security in the bilateral relations. “But then there is a threshold of patience. I think that threshold of patience has been crossed.”
The spokesperson asserted that Islamabad would not allow any trade that “is a licence for the killing of Pakistanis from Afghan soil”.
Responding to a question regarding an Afghan leader’s remarks about preparing 4,000 bombers for Pakistan, he said that the statement reinforced Pakistan’s position that Afghan soil was being used to launch terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
‘Indian leadership continue to monger war’
Andrabi said that Islamabad has taken notice of the Indian political and military leadership’s continued war-mongering and hostile statements.
During his briefing, he also addressed US President Donald Trump’s statement regarding Indian Prime Minister Modi’s assurance that India would not initiate a war with Islamabad.
“That assurance we obviously take with a pinch of salt. It is not backed up by any cooling down of statements emanating from India,” he said.
The FO spokesperson welcomed a report submitted to the US Congress, which validated Pakistan’s military success over India in the four-day war in May.
The report, presented by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, stated that Pakistan downed Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafales, using Chinese-made weapons.
Andrabi said that the details about Pakistan’s success were “quite a telling conclusion” of that report.
He expressed concerns over the continued and grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), saying that New Delhi was making “efforts to alter the demographic character of IIOJK”.
“Such coercive actions cannot undermine the Kashmiri people’s enduring commitment to realising their internationally recognised right to self-determination,” he added.
The FO spokesperson then called for a just, peaceful and lasting resolution to the Kashmir dispute, in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
