Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that there were “some complications” pertaining to the fencing of the Pak-Afghan border, but the matter was being discussed with the Afghan Taliban government, as he blamed “certain miscreants” for blowing such incidents out of proportion.
He made these remarks during a press conference in Islamabad when he was asked about a video circulating on the social media purportedly showing Taliban fighters uprooting a portion of the fence along the Pak-Afghan border, claiming that the fencing had been erected inside the Afghan territory. In another video shared on Twitter, Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarizmi was seen saying that Pakistan had no right to fence the border and create a divide, adding that such a move was “inappropriate and against the law”.
Responding to the video clips, Qureshi said such incidents had reportedly occurred in the past few days and “we have taken up the issue with the Afghan government at the diplomatic level”. “We are looking into it and we are in contact with the Afghan government. Hopefully, we would be able to resolve the issue diplomatically.”
At the presser, Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s willingness to host the 19th SAARC Summit and invited India to virtually attend the event. He regretted that India’s continuous negative attitude had made the most effective forum for economic cooperation and development dysfunctional. About relations with India, the foreign minister said that unfortunately, the prospects of durable peace and stability in the region, and the great potential for economic development and regional cooperation had been held hostage by the hegemonic and hostile behaviour of India. He said the BJP-RSS Hindutva-inspired leadership had adopted a particularly irresponsible and politically motivated anti-Pakistan posture, and a patently anti-Muslim approach at home. He said India’s unilateral and illegal actions in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since August 5, 2019, aimed at undermining the status of the disputed territory, perpetuating its illegal occupation, and altering its demographic structure, and the unabated widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and state-terrorism against the innocent Kashmiris had further vitiated the environment and threatened international peace and security.
“Pakistan desires friendly relations with all its neighbours, including India. But as the prime minister has said, the onus is on India to take necessary steps to create an environment conducive for dialogue. Resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a prerequisite for durable peace and stability in South Asia,” Qureshi reiterated.
About developments in Afghanistan, Qureshi said the immediate neighbour presented a major challenge to Pakistan, as consequences of instability in Afghanistan always impacted Pakistan.
In the post-August 15, 2021 period, he said, Pakistan played a pivotal role in the safe evacuation of over 80,000 individuals across 42 nationalities, consisting of diplomats, international NGO staff, media workers and many others. The government of Pakistan also pledged Rs5 billion aid to Afghanistan, the first consignments of which had already started, he added.
Qureshi said Pakistan geared its diplomacy in advocating and garnering regional and international consensus on the need for constructive and sustained engagement with the new interim authorities in Afghanistan over the humanitarian crisis and the risk of an economic collapse. He cited Pakistan’s participation in the Moscow format Troika Plus meeting held in Islamabad in this regard.
The foreign minister also termed holding of extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers hosted by Pakistan to focus on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, another sincere effort which led to establishment of a Humanitarian Trust Fund under the Islamic Development Bank, launching of a food security programme and appointment of a special envoy of the OIC secretary general.
In line with the ‘Vision Central Asia’, he said, Pakistan pursued active diplomatic outreach to the Central Asian Republics (CARs) with visits and participation of senior leadership from various countries. Engagement with East Asian partners continued under the Vision East Asia policy, he said.
About Pak-US ties, Qureshi said Pakistan remained committed to the longstanding relationship with the United States and looked forward to expanding it as a broad-based mutually beneficial partnership. “Pakistan’s exports to the United States rose by 39 per cent to cross the $5 billion mark for the first time. As a result of the government’s efforts, Pakistan was included in Amazon’s seller’s list. The United States supported Pakistan’s Covid-19 response through the provision of 27.6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines. We also maintained close engagement on Afghanistan,” he added.
