Tag: Afghan Ambassador

  • US says it recognises and supports Pakistan’s continued efforts to satisfy FATF

    US says it recognises and supports Pakistan’s continued efforts to satisfy FATF

    During a regular press briefing, the United States (US) State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price said, “We do recognise, and we support Pakistan’s continued efforts to satisfy the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) obligations,” reported Geo News.

    This statement comes after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar admitted that Pakistan is on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) because of the “efforts of Narendra Modi’s government”.

    When asked to comment over Jaishankar’s admission, Price said that the US encourages Pakistan to continue working with FATF and the international community to swiftly complete the remaining action item.

    “We do further encourage Pakistan to expeditiously implement its new second action plan,” said Price.

    The spokesperson also commented on the alleged abduction of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter. “Afghanistan’s neighbours do have a role to play.”

    Price added, “I would add that tangible and material support for the Afghanistan peace process is vital for its ultimate success, as are the longer-term relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

    “We understand the crucial role that Pakistan has the potential to play in this regard as well,” said the US State Department’s spokesperson.

  • 300 CCTV camera data collected, abduction not confirmed: IG Islamabad

    300 CCTV camera data collected, abduction not confirmed: IG Islamabad

    Inspector-General (IG) Islamabad Qazi Jameel-ur-Rehman, during a press conference on Monday in Islamabad, said that the police have formed five teams to probe the “abduction” of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter.

    “We traced the entire route on which the daughter of the Afghan ambassador travelled and also traced both the taxi drivers who drove her,” he said. “Before going to the city’s F-9 Park, the ambassador’s daughter first went to the F-6 area,” added IG Islamabad.

    He said the purported abduction of the Afghan envoy’s daughter was a complete “blind case” and they collected data of around 300 CCTV cameras installed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

    As per police investigation, her abduction has not been proven yet, he maintained.

    Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said, “Pakistan wants to arrest and punish the culprits involved in alleged kidnapping as soon as possible.”

    The foreign minister further added, “I told the Afghan ambassador that we are aware of the security concerns he is having, therefore, we have beefed up all Afghan diplomats’ security.”

    National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Monday that Pakistan was currently a target of “hybrid warfare” and an entire network of information warfare was being used against the country.

    He said fake accounts and bots were being used to create a “narrative” against Pakistan, including regarding the incident involving the Afghan envoy’s daughter.

    Sharing slides on data gathered by the government, Yusuf said hashtags were being trended on a daily basis to create false impressions including that Pakistan “is doing something [wrong] in Afghanistan” and that the security situation in Pakistan was poor.

    “This is part of an orchestrated campaign of which various fronts have been opened against Pakistan,” he said, adding that the same accounts that did “fake propaganda” regarding Balochistan or Kashmir were also doing propaganda ever since the alleged abduction incident took place. According to Yusuf, some of these accounts were operated from inside Pakistan, while the rest were controlled from Afghanistan, India, and the West.

    FM Qureshi said that he spoke to his Afghan counterpart this morning and discussed the steps that the Government of Pakistan has so far taken to investigate the matter. 

    “We have assured the Afghan government that Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally overseeing the probe into the alleged abduction of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter,” he said. 

    Qureshi reiterated that the Afghanistan government should reconsider its decision to pull out its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan, adding that if they want the investigation to be transparent, it will have to cooperate with Pakistan. 

    “We don’t have any intention to hide anything… we need their [Afghanistan’s] cooperation to take the investigation to its logical conclusion,” he added.

    Earlier today, Foreign Minister Qureshi informed his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar that the security of the Afghan embassy and consulate in Pakistan had been further enhanced.

    The development comes a day after the Afghanistan government decided to withdraw its ambassador and senior diplomats from Pakistan, a move that Islamabad termed as “unfortunate and regrettable”.

  • Afghanistan may seek India’s military assistance if talks with Taliban fail: Afghan ambassador

    Afghanistan may seek India’s military assistance if talks with Taliban fail: Afghan ambassador

    The government of Afghanistan may, at some point in the future, seek India’s military assistance if talks with the Taliban fail amid the withdrawal of US troops from there, Afghan Ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay, has said in an interview to NDTV.

    “Should we not get to a stage in the peace process with the Taliban, then maybe a time (will come) where we would be seeking India’s military assistance, more military assistance in the years ahead,” said Farid.

    “We are not seeking India’s assistance with sending troops to Afghanistan. Their footprint in Afghanistan to fight our war would not be needed at this stage,” he clarified.

    The current situation in Afghanistan is “very dire” and “very problematic”, with the government forces actively fighting the Taliban in around 150 of the 376 districts, the Ambassador said.

    In another interview given to The Indian Express, Farid said, “We are faced with economic hardship,” reports Khaleej Times.

    “The Covid-19-induced lockdowns and the crisis had made deteriorating life even more jeopardised for the general public. We are going through a very difficult time,” he added.

    “Messages that India would continue to support Afghanistan should Taliban become part of the mainstream society again,” he explained. “India would continue to assist Afghanistan in education, politically, diplomatically. Those would go a long way I hope with the Taliban,” added Farid.

    Mamundzay avoided responding to queries related to tensions between India and Pakistan and its spillover in Afghanistan. He said Afghans were to a large extent independent and they decided for themselves.

    “But Pakistan holds a considerable amount of influence and leverage with the Taliban, who again is part of Afghan society,” explained the diplomat.

    “And our requests to Pakistan have always been to use, and productively utilise their influence to bring Taliban to the negotiating table, to make them agree to a process which would make this region prosper. We understand that Pakistan may not fully control the Taliban, but they have a good influence over them. And that influence should be used for, at least, on making this region peaceful and prosperous.”