Militants not dangerous to Pakistan should not be targeted: Sartaj

Published November 18, 2014
Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. -File/Reuters
Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. -File/Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz on Monday said that Pakistan should not target militants who do not threaten the country’s security.

“Why should America’s enemies unnecessarily become our enemies,” Sartaj Aziz said during an interview with BBC Urdu.

"When the United States attacked Afghanistan, all those that were trained and armed were pushed towards us.

“Some of them were dangerous for us and some are not. Why must we make enemies out of them all?,” he said when speaking about the Haqqani Network.

He further said that the Afghan Taliban are Afghanistan’s problem and Haqqani Network is a part of it.

“It’s the job of the Afghan government to negotiate with them...We can try to convince them, however things are not the same as they were in the nineties,” Aziz said.

When speaking about COAS Raheel Sharif’s visit to the United States, the adviser to the PM said that relations between Pakistan and the US are improving.

Opinion

Editorial

General malfeasance
Updated 12 Dec, 2024

General malfeasance

Will Gen Faiz Hameed's trial prove to be a long overdue comeuppance or just another smokescreen?
Electricity rates
12 Dec, 2024

Electricity rates

THE government is renegotiating power purchase agreements with private power producers to slash their capacity...
Aggression in Syria
12 Dec, 2024

Aggression in Syria

TAKING advantage of the chaos in post-Assad Syria, Israel has proceeded to grab more of the Arab state’s land,...
Madressah politics
Updated 11 Dec, 2024

Madressah politics

The curriculum taught must be free of hate and prejudice, while madressah students need to be taught life skills to later contribute to economy.
Targeting travellers
11 Dec, 2024

Targeting travellers

THE country’s top tax authority seems to have run out of good ideas. According to news reports, the Federal Board...
Grieving elephants
11 Dec, 2024

Grieving elephants

FOR most, the news will perhaps not even register. Another elephant has died in captivity in Pakistan. The death is...