ISLAMABAD: Chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed on Friday dismissed a statement made by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during an international summit in Uzbekistan wherein he claimed that “jihadi fighters” were entering his country from Pakistan and other places in the world.
Hameed denied the allegation while talking to Geo News in Tashkent, adding it was Pakistan that faced the threat of infiltration from Afghanistan.
“We want peace in the neighboring country since a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and other countries,” he maintained.
The ISI chief reiterated his country was not supporting any faction in Afghanistan and was interested in a negotiated settlement among all Afghan groups.
Earlier, the Afghan president claimed in his speech that Pakistan was supporting the Taliban while asking Islamabad to use its influence with the group to facilitate peace in Afghanistan.
“Intelligence estimates indicate the influx of over 10,000 jihadi fighters from Pakistan and other places in the last month as well as support from their affiliates and the transnational terrorist organizations,” Ghani told the Uzbekistan summit focusing on regional connectivity between South and Central Asia.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was also present at the gathering, told the Afghan leader it was “extremely unfair” to blame his country for what was going on in Afghanistan.
“I feel really disappointed that we have been blamed for what is going on in Afghanistan,” he said during his speech. “What is happening in Afghanistan is over two decades of conflict, deep divisions and, unfortunately, the United States seeking a military solution where there was not one.”
Khan said the best time to bring the Taliban to the table was when there were 150,000 troops in Afghanistan.
“Why is Taliban going to compromise when the exit date was given and with only a few thousand American troops left [in Afghanistan],” he asked. “Why would they [the Taliban] listen to us when they are sensing victory?“
Pakistani spy chief rejects President Ghani’s allegations its fighters infiltrating Afghanistan
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Pakistani spy chief rejects President Ghani’s allegations its fighters infiltrating Afghanistan
- Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed maintains it is his country that is facing the threat of infiltration from Afghanistan
- The ISI chief says Pakistan is not supporting any faction in Afghanistan and wants a negotiated settlement among all Afghan groups
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
