ISLAMABAD: Reiterating Pakistan’s wish for a consensus-based government in Kabul, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said the government was closely monitoring changing situation in Afghanistan and will not let these affect Pakistan.
Taking to Twitter, the federal minister stated that every effort was being made to move forward through a peaceful and all-encompassing system of government in Kabul.
“However, even if that doesn’t happen, we won’t let the effects reach Pakistan,” he maintained. He added that that the government’s Afghan policy was based on Pakistan’s own interests.
افغانستان میں بدلتی صورتحال پر گہری نظر ہے، پوری کوشش ہے کابل میں ایک پر امن اور سب کی رائے پر مبنی نظام حکومت کے ذریعے آگے بڑھا جائے لیکن اگر ایسا نہ ہوا تو بھی ہاکستان کے اندر اس کے اثرات نہیں آنے دیں گے، ہماری افغان پالیسی پاکستان کے مفاد پر ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 12, 2021
In another tweet, the information minister recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had already clarified that Pakistan could be partners with the US in peace, but not in conflict.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان کہ چکے ہیں کہ امن میں حصہ دار ہوں گے لیکن جنگ میں نہیں، پاکستان کی زمین افغانستان کے خلاف استعمال نہیں ہو رہی اور امید ہے کہ افغانستان کی سرزمین پاکستان کے خلاف استعمال نہیں ہوگی، سیاسی پارلیمانی قیادت عدم مداخلت کے اصول پر متفق ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 12, 2021
He further stated, “Pakistan’s land is not being used against Afghanistan and we hope that Afghanistan’s territory, too, will not be used against Pakistan.”
The information minister’s remarks are the latest in a string of statements by Pakistani authorities regarding growing concerns over rising violence in Afghanistan and its expected fallout in Pakistan.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf had warned while briefing the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that the situation was turning volatile in Afghanistan.
Yusuf had termed the situation in the neighbourng country “extremely bad and out of Pakistan’s control”. He had warned of an impending risk of an attack by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militants, who, he had said, could enter Pakistan disguised as refugees.
Qureshi had expressed worry that in case of a civil war in Afghanistan, Pakistan would not be able to handle the influx of refugees.
