India's negativity at Heart of Asia exposed its 'commitment' to Afghan peace: FO

Published
9

Foreign Office (FO) Spokesman Nafees Zakaria on Thursday said that India's 'negativity' at the Heart of Asia conference last weekend 'exposed' its claims of 'commitment' to prospects of peace in Afghanistan as it misused a platform meant for promoting peace and stability in the war-torn country, Radio Pakistan reported.

Zakaria at a weekly briefing claimed India's poor behaviour with the Pakistani delegation during the ministerial conference in Amritsar ruined the atmosphere and proved that India is attempting to divert attention away from Indian 'atrocities' in Kashmir.

"Pakistan wants meaningful and result-oriented dialogue on all issues, including the problem of Kashmir with India," Zakaria said.

Zakaria expressed his regret regarding the statements made by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during the Heart of Asia conference. The focus of the conference is regional cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours in order to improve connectivity and tackle security threats.

"Afghanistan suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable... Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn't last a month," Ghani had said. "I don't want a blame game, I want clarifications on what is being done to prevent the export of terror."

Zakaria during the briefing said Pakistan's policy on Afghanistan is clear. "Pakistan has allocated Rs500 million for development and education in Afghanistan."

The FO spokesman alleged Al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar are operating in Afghanistan, and that 'terrorist activities' were carried out in Pakistan from Afghan soil.

"The killing of 8 senior commanders of the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan shows that terrorists are present in Afghanistan, not Pakistan," Zakaria claimed.

The spokesperson said that Tariq Fatemi, the special assistant to prime minister on foreign affairs, was currently meeting with leaders in the US.

Zakaria said Pakistan had welcomed the US President-elect Donald Trump's offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue.

Zakaria said America offered help to Pakistan after the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight 661 crashed near Haveli in Abbotabad. He said Pakistan would welcome assistance from the US.

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