Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan can’t be held “responsible” for the actions of the Taliban within the aftermath folks and its allies’ ongoing withdrawal from Afghanistan, adding that his government isn’t a spokesperson for the militant group.
“What the Taliban do or aren’t doing has nothing to try to to with us. We aren’t responsible, neither are we spokespersons for the Taliban,” he said in comments to Afghan media representatives that were aired on Thursday.
The premier’s remarks come each day after US journalist Judy Woodruff, during an interview, asked him about Pakistan alleged military, intelligence and support to the Afghan Taliban.
PM Imran today distanced Islamabad from the happenings in Kabul, saying: “All we would like is peace in Afghanistan.”
He said that the Afghans had a option to make: to either pursue the US-backed military solution or to pursue a political settlement where there’s an inclusive government. “[The latter] is that the only solution,” he said.
“There are three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, most of them are Pashtuns and most will have sympathies with the Taliban. How is Pakistan alleged to check who goes over there to fight once we have about 30,000 people crossing into Afghanistan a day . How is Pakistan getting to check that?”
“We have three million refugees in Pakistan […] how can Pakistan be held responsible? There are refugee camps with 100,000 and 500,000 people.”
He said it had been impossible for Pakistan to sift through the refugee camps to seek out out who was pro-Taliban and who wasn’t , adding that until recently there was no physical border between the 2 countries.
“The Durand Line was imaginary,” he said, pertaining to the 2640-kilometre-long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said that Pakistan has completed 90 per cent of the border fencing.
“We try our greatest , but it’s impossible to carry Pakistan responsible once you have over three million refugees here.”
‘Discrepancy in what Afghan envoy’s daughter says and what evidence shows’
Commenting on the recent incident involving the Afghan ambassador’s daughter in Islamabad, the premier said that authorities had charted out the precise path taken by Silsila Alikhil. He said that taxi drivers were traced and interrogated.
“Unfortunately, what the ambassador’s daughter is saying and what the cameras show don’t add up. She says she was put during a taxi, removed and beaten up. But there’s an image of that taxi and she or he or he is sitting there and she is ok .”
He said that the police had pulled all the records and there was a “discrepancy”. He said that since the ambassador’s daughter had gone back to Afghanistan there was no thanks to confirm what had happened.
