Afghan president's tweets 'equivalent to interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs': Awan

Published January 28, 2020
Afghan president's tweets are "equivalent to interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs", SAPM Firdous Ashiq Awan said. — APP/File
Afghan president's tweets are "equivalent to interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs", SAPM Firdous Ashiq Awan said. — APP/File

A day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani shared his concerns over the arrest of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen, the government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan deemed his comments "equivalent to interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs".

Ghani on Monday, via Twitter, had said that he was "troubled by the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen and his colleagues". The Afghan president had tweeted hours after Pashteen was arrested by police in Peshawar over charges of sedition and condemnation of state.

Following Ghani's tweets, the Foreign Office had issued a statement and expressed "serious concern".

"We have noted with serious concern the recent tweets by President Ashraf Ghani, which are a clear interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs and hence, unwarranted. We believe that such statements are not helpful to the promotion of good neighborly relations between the two countries."

The FO said Pakistan wished to maintain close and cordial relations with Afghanistan based on the principles of non-intervention and non-interference and urged the Afghan side to work together for the common objective of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.

In a series of tweets today, the special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting (SAPM) said that the Afghanistan leadership should "keep in mind the principles of non-interference in international relations".

"Pakistan is a sovereign state. It is Pakistan's law to take legal action against elements who are against the Constitution," said Awan.

"It is against diplomatic norms for a country to speak against the supremacy of law in another country."

She added that Pakistan's "brave armed forces and upright people" had paved the way for peace in the country and that "miscreants cannot be allowed to play with peace".

"The law will pave its own way against miscreants," said the prime minister's aide, adding that Pakistan wished for peace and stability in the region and was willing to work together to establish peace in Afghanistan.

The PTM chief, who was taken to Peshawar's central jail yesterday after the police obtained a 14-day judicial remand from a sessions court, is being moved to DI Khan today, where a case has been filed against him.

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