NEW DELHI: Afghan­istan’s former president Hamid Karzai “appreciated” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the human rights situation in Balochistan on Friday, saying that India had every right to respond to Pakistan’s “provocations”.

The Hindu said “Pakistani authorities have spoken freely on Afghanistan and India, but this is the first time that the PM of India has spoken about Balochistan,” Mr Karzai said during a visit to Delhi.

“However, I don’t think India intends to go to any proxy wars in the region as it has a tradition of peaceful coexistence. The region should not go to proxy wars,” he added.

The remarks from the former Afghan president, who has often criticised Pakistan for its support to the Taliban, came a day after Bangladesh Information Minister Hassanul Haq Inu had also backed Mr. Modi’s statements, The Hindu said.

Speaking to an all-party meeting on Kashmir last week, and in his address on independence day, Mr Modi had vowed to take up the cause of Baloch people in Pakistan on the international stage, and said he had received many messages from them.

“In Balochistan there is extreme suffering at the hands of extremists promoted by state structures in Pakistan. Therefore the people’s concerns need to be addressed and aired,” Mr Karzai told The Hindu in an interview, saying that Mr Modi’s comments should make Pakistan’s government “see the gravity of the situation”.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2016