ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the Taliban government in Afghanistan would have “greater reason and ability” to fulfill its promises on rights and militancy if consistent aid was guaranteed to the war-torn country.
Khan wrote this in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Monday titled “Don’t blame Pakistan for the outcome of the war in Afghanistan.”
In a speech at the UNGA last week, Khan struck the same note, saying Pakistan was being constantly blamed for America’s losses in Afghanistan and treated as a scapegoat by the US administration and the previous Western-backed government in Afghanistan.
“Taliban leaders will have greater reason and ability to stick to their promises if they are assured of the consistent humanitarian and developmental assistance they need to run the government effectively,” Khan wrote. “Providing such incentives will also give the outside world additional leverage to continue persuading the Taliban to honor its commitments.”
By doing this, the Pakistani prime minister argued, the international community could ensure “an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to the world, where Afghans can finally dream of peace after four decades of conflict.”
“The alternative — abandoning Afghanistan — has been tried before,” Khan said. “As in the 1990s, it will inevitably lead to a meltdown. Chaos, mass migration and a revived threat of international terror will be natural corollaries. Avoiding this must surely be our global imperative.”
The PM said Pakistan had suffered the most from the US war on terror, with successive Pakistani governments after the 9/11 attacks seeking to please the United States “instead of pointing out the error of a military-dominated approach.”
Between 2006 and 2015, Khan said, nearly 50 militant groups had declared war on the Pakistani state, conducting over 16,000 terror attacks and causing 80,000 casualties and $150 billion in losses to the economy. The conflict also drove 3.5 million Pakistani citizens from their homes.
“Tragically, instead of facing this reality, the Afghan and Western governments created a convenient scapegoat by blaming Pakistan, wrongly accusing us of providing safe havens to the [Afghan] Taliban and allowing its free movement across our border,” Khan said. “If it had been so, would the United States not have used some of the 450-plus drone strikes to target these supposed sanctuaries?”