By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday said that fencing along the Afghan border will be completed within two months.
Talking to media in Rawalpindi on Thursday, he said work on fencing along the border with Afghanistan has been done by 88 percent while 46 percent on the Iranian border. The minister said Pakistan is not allowing anyone to use its land against any country, and other countries should also ensure it.
He said India would desire that peace is not established in Afghanistan; however, Pakistan has been making sincere efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
Sheikh Rashid said Pakistan wants to have good relations with all countries, including India. However, he said, India will have to give right to self-determination to the oppressed Kashmiris.
Condemning the Indian Home Ministry for baseless allegation of Pakistan s role in a drone attack in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said India wants to hide its failure in addressing the Covid-19 challenge through such allegations.
Responding to a question, the Interior Minister urged the opposition parties to sit with the government to introduce electoral for transparent elections in the future.
The interior minister said Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan, suggesting in his personal capacity that other stakeholders, such as Qatar, may also be approached for restoring peace in the war-torn country if the need arose.
“We want the Afghan government and the opposition to unite and that there is no civil war,” he said. “Reconciliation in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan.”
He added that Pakistan expected that no country would use its land against it, just like it had not used its land against another country.
“It will not be allowed,” he said. “Our neighbours, including India and Iran, will be interested in politics in Afghanistan,” he added, assuring that Pakistan would make all-out efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan. “Our policy should be that peace is ensured in Afghanistan.”
When asked about the policy with regards to Pakistan’s relations with China and the US amid their emerging rivalry, Rashid emphatically said: “We want to have good relations with all, but not at the cost of our relations with China.”
He also refuted allegations made by Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, who accused Pakistan of being involved in alleged drone attacks in occupied Kashmir. “I condemn his statement,” he said, adding that Pakistan was not involved in perpetrating any attacks in occupied Kashmir.
The interior minister went on to say that India had resorted to blaming Pakistan for the incident to deflect criticism from its failure in the fight against Covid-19.
“Pakistan wants peace with India, but that is not possible without a solution to the Kashmir issue,” he said.
He expressed hope that the PTI would win the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “It is already in the government in a majority of provinces and after winning elections in Kashmir, the PTI will become a national party,” he said.
Replying to another question, he claimed that there were significant differences between PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif. “They are far apart and their politics is different,” he remarked. Asked about the recent blast near the residence of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed in Lahore, he said he would give credit to the Punjab police for arresting suspects within a short period of time.
He added that while foreign elements, such as India’s premiere intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), may perpetrate such acts of terrorism to destroy Pakistan’s peace in the future as well, they must realise that the country’s police was now as well-trained as its army.
