• Says Islamabad will continue to help neighbour jointly defeat terrorist groups
• Defence minister threatens to shut Afghanistan trade corridor if violence does not abate

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thurs­day reiterated Pakistan’s desire to address the issue of terrorism with Afghan­istan through dialogue and cooperation.

Meanwhile, in an interview published on Thursday, Defence Minis­ter Khawaja Asif told the Voice of America that Islamabad does not want an armed conflict with its neighbouring country.

Speaking at the weekly FO briefing, Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “Pakistan has repeatedly said that we prioritise dialogue and cooperation in finding solutions to issues of mutual concern and that is why Pakistan has been engaged in conversations and dialogue with Afghanistan to fight the threat that we face that is of terrorism that emanates from these groups which are currently based in Afghanistan.”

She was responding to questions about Pakistan’s air strikes against Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group targets inside Afghanistan on Monday after militants based there carried out an attack on a Frontier Corps camp on March 16.

Afghanistan’s Taliban administration had res­ponded angrily to the air strikes and fired heavy weapons into Pakistan from across the border in retaliation.

“We will continue to engage with Afghanistan so that we are able to defeat these terror groups and the threat that they pose to Pakistan and the friendship between Pak­istan and Afghanis­tan,” she further said, adding that “The channels of communication between the two countries remain open.”

She recalled that a Pakistani proposal for jointly confronting terrorism has been on the negotiation table for some time. “We hope going forward, the two countries can work together to find joint solutions to combat terrorism,” she added.

Emphasising the importance of eliminating the terror groups threatening Pakistan’s security, Baloch said, it was important that the two countries collaborate for the re­­moval of “a major issue” weighing the relationship down.

The spokesperson, however, avoided ruling out the possibility of future strikes inside Afghanis­tan. “We will only take any action in any direction, dialogue or otherwise, depending on the situation that arises,” she maintained.

Baloch at the same time restated Pakistan’s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.

“The 18th of March operation was not targeted against the government or institutions or the people of Afghanistan. It was a targeted operation against terrorist hideouts and sanctuaries,” she stressed, saying that the strikes against Gul Bahadur sanctuaries were carried out after the group’s involvement in the FC Camp attack was proven and with the realization that this group has not been effectively countered by the Afghan Taliban administration.

Ms Baloch hit back at the Afghan Taliban statement on the air strikes implying that Pakistan’s Afghan policy was being run by the military “generals” noting that the action of March 18 was taken after concerted deliberations within the government and it had the full ownership of the country’s leadership.

Not looking for a fight

Speaking to VOA, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: “Force is the last resort. We do not want to have an armed conflict with Afghanistan.”

On March 18, Pakistan struck Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces in “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations”, which Afghan authorities said killed eight people.

Speaking about the air strikes, the defence minister said: “A message needed to be sent that this [cross-border terrorism] has grown too much.”

He added that Pakistan wanted to convey to the Afghan interim government in Kabul that “we cannot continue like this”.

Mr Asif warned that Islamabad could block the corridor it provided to Afghanistan for trade with India. He asserted that Pakistan had the right to stop facilitating Kabul if it failed to curb terrorists operating on Afghan soil against Pakistan.

“If Afghanistan treats us like an enemy, then why should we give them a trade corridor?” he asked.

Recalling the February 2023 visit to Kabul by a high-level delegation led by him, Mr Asif said he had told the Taliban ministers to not let the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s past “favours” tie Kabul’s hands.

“If they [TTP] have done you a favour and you’re grateful to them, then control them. Don’t let them start a war with us while living in your country, and you become their ally,” VOA quoted him as saying.

“If they can harm us, then we’ll be forced to [retaliate],” the minister said, while expressing the hope that Afghanistan would meet the “single demand” of reining in the TTP, hence preventing the need for future military strikes from Pakistan.

He said Kabul was letting the TTP operate against Pakistan in a bid to prevent its members from joining the militant Islamic State group’s local chapter, known as the IS-Khorasan chapter.

“It’s not necessary that the world must applaud us. What is in our interest is enough for us. We are protecting our interest, irrespective of whether someone applauds us or not,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024