Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked the Afghan government to avoid pointing fingers at Pakistan for its own failures and look into its governance issues.
In a press briefing at the Foreign Office (FO), he said Pakistan had repeatedly said it had no favourites in Afghanistan and saw all sides of the conflict as Afghans.
“It is unfortunate to scapegoat Pakistan for the failures of others; the issues of governance and meltdown of Afghan National Defence Forces need to be looked into — and not just start pointing fingers at Pakistan.”
“The time has come when the world wants answers to what has been achieved in Afghanistan in these past 20 years. The taxpayer in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Europe wants to know who is responsible for no achievement. Pakistan will not be apologetic, as we are not accountable nor responsible for the trillions spent and nothing to show for it. No capacity building, no arms, where has everything gone?” remarked Qureshi.
“Pakistan is against a forceful takeover of Afghanistan. Pakistan does not want a military takeover, as we do not support one. We speak of a political takeover. A military takeover will result in more bloodshed and the people of Afghanistan have suffered and this suffering should end. Leadership inside Afghanistan should rise to the occasion and avoid a military takeover. We urge all sides to show respect for human rights and international humanitarian laws,” said Qureshi.
“We had made a request to be present there, but unfortunately, it was not accepted,” he said, adding that at the time of India assuming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency, Pakistan had asked it to operate objectively.
However, India did not behave in a manner that was befitting of that responsibility, the foreign minister said. “India has been, in our view, in breach of its obligation as president of the Security Council.”
Pakistan has been facilitating the peace process, and its role has been and will continue to be of a facilitator, the foreign minister said.
“We cannot guarantee, we can only facilitate,” he said, noting it was up to the Afghans to decide their future, and now the world community was backing Pakistan’s narrative that there is no military solution in Afghanistan.
While on the request of President Ashraf Ghani, intra-Afghan peace talks were postponed in Islamabad, Pakistan now looks forward to the August 11 peace talks of the troika consisting of Pakistan, China, and Russia with an aim of chartering a political way out for an Afghan-led peace process.
“We reiterate the need for the effective use of available peace mechanisms,” Qureshi said, adding Pakistan has always stressed the need for talks.
