Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive, has said that Afghanistan neither has the capacity nor the intention to destabilize Pakistan. This statement came days after the ‘unprovoked’ firing by Afghan forces in the border town of Chaman, Pakistan, resulting in dozens of casualties.
According to Mr. Abdullah, anyone who harms Pakistan is in effect harming Afghanistan and denied the allegations placed on him regarding the intrusions against Pakistan. He said, “No one can play a better role than Pakistan for the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.”
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While commending the initiative of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb he showed dissatisfaction over the kind of relations the two neighboring countries have. However, he said that Afghanistan is aware of the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its territory and considers it a terrorist organization.
Afghanistan is aware of the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its territory and considers it a terrorist organization.
He emphasized that the Taliban are Afghanistan’s enemy and that the Afghan establishment has no sympathy for the Taliban and have no intention of cooperating with them, instead, they want to put pressure on the Taliban in order to bring them to the negotiating table. However, while acknowledging the Taliban as a problem he said that Afghanistan faces bigger issues than the TTP referring the internal security of the country.
Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan President, used the recent conflict as an opportunity to offer his expertise as a former President of Afghanistan to mediate between the two neighbors.
His statements follow increasing speculation that elements in the Afghan government are colluding with Indian intelligence agencies in an effort to destabilize regions on the Af-Pak border. Afghanistan has become increasingly decentralized, meaning the government lacks control in certain regions and certain state forces as evident by the recent actions of the Afghan Border Police.
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Meanwhile, Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan President, used the recent conflict as an opportunity to offer his expertise as a former President of Afghanistan to mediate between the two neighbors.
Afghanistan cannot improve its ties with India by sacrificing Pakistan and making clear that no state, including India, is allowed to use their land against another country.
He said, “The two countries are the closest nations of the world and twin brothers. Afghan people want good relations with Pakistan. I have a lot of love for Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta,” and further said that he will visit Pakistan after the Holy month of Ramazan.
The former president opined that Afghanistan cannot improve its ties with India by sacrificing Pakistan and making clear that no state, including India, is allowed to use their land against another country. Further stating that Afghanistan is forever thankful to Pakistan for housing the Afghan refugees.
The ex-President, who has of late been sidelined from the Afghan political scene, seemed to be making an effort to become relevant again.
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Furthermore, while warning about the increasing foothold of Da’ish (ISIS) in the country, he said it poses a threat to both Afghanistan and Pakistan whilst claiming that it is backed by US, therefore the ‘twin brothers’ need to work on improving their relations without tossing blame on each other.