SIALKOT: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that Afghan Taliban wer
e the US and Afghanistan’s problem, not P
akistan’s.
He added that P
akistan had suffered a great deal for being an ally of the US and the latter should stop pinning the blame for its own 16 years of failures on the former.
220;If the US doesn’t trust us, it should repatriate Afghan immigrants in P
akistan itself,” he told reporters in Sialkot.
The minister said 0.2 million P
akistani troops were fighting against terrorists and thousands of soldiers had sacrificed their lives for this purpose. “P
akistan has managed to cleanse its land from terrorism,” he maintained.
Asif said US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks that P
akistan harboured terrorists were disturbing. “P
akistan has been a partner of the US in the war against terrorism and such statements undermine our efforts,” he remarked.
220;We want to maintain good ties with the US and remove misunderstandings.”
The minister said P
akistan had hosted Afghan immigrants for 35 years. “We want peace in Afghanistan because that is essential for P
akistan. The US will have to work in collaboration with P
akistan to seek a solution to the Afghanistan issue,” he added.
Asif said 90 per cent of terrorist attacks in P
akistan were carried out on instructions from within Afghanistan.
“We have tried to mak
e the Pak-Afghan border secure but stretch of around 650 kilometres has not been fenced by Afghanistan,” he noted.
Meanwhile, China has again reaffirmed its continuing support to P
akistan and vowed to further
strengthen strategic friendship with it.
This was assured by Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi while talking to P
akistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Beijing.
The Chinese foreign minister lauded P
akistan’s great sacrifices made in fight against terrorism and urged international community to fully recognize these efforts.
The foreign secretary, underlining the importance of P
akistan-China friendship, reiterated P
akistan’s support to China on all issues of its core interest. After President Trump accused Islamabad of harbouring militants, China defended P
akistan’s important role in Afghanistan.
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Published in Daily Times, August 28th 2017.
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