By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, Nov 14: Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has said that Pakistan should not interfere in Afghanistan’s relations with India.

In an interview with Dawn the minister blamed Pakistan for allowing Taliban leaders to operate from its soil and said there was no Pukhtun problem in Afghanistan. He urged Pakistan to accept the change in Afghanistan.

“It will be a frustrating situation if one country cannot tolerate our relations with another country,” he said.

Mr Abdullah said Kabul wanted relations with all the countries in the region “and not with just one country” as the Taliban regime did.

“We do not want to be drawn into any conflict in the region, except in the war against terrorism,” said the foreign minister, interpreting Pakistan’s objections to Kabul’s growing ties with New Delhi as an effort to drag Afghanistan into its disputes with India.

Asked if Indian consulates in Afghanistan were working against Pakistan, he said: “If there are legitimate concerns, we will address them. We do not have any evidence other than seeing India working to help rebuild Afghanistan. There is no evidence otherwise and we hope this situation is understood.”

Mr Abdullah claimed that Pakistan was giving a free rein to Taliban leaders who moved openly in Pakistani cities, giving interviews, discussing their future plans and calling for jihad against the West.

He suggested that Taliban fighters were regrouping across the border in Pakistan, in between forays to attack Afghan and US troops. “Where are these people coming from? Where are they getting their ammunition? Where are they treating their wounded,” he asked.

Taliban leaders, he said, often held “press conferences and cabinet-type meetings” in Quetta. “These people are not hiding,” he alleged.

He named three Taliban leaders — Mullah Asadullah, Mullah Kabir and former Taliban defence minister Mullah Ubaidullah — as operating freely in Pakistan.

Pakistan, he said, had the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with Afghanistan “based on our common interests. With the realization that Afghanistan has started a new life.”

“Groups with vested interests should not be allowed to spoil this opportunity. Unless one accepts the things of the past as things of the past, things will remain difficult,” he said.

Mr Abdullah denied that the Afghan government was negotiating with moderate Taliban leaders to broaden its support among the Pukhtuns.