MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Afghanistan’s Nat­ional Security Adviser is playing the role of a spoiler in the Afghan peace process.

Addressing party workers here on Saturday, the foreign minister said the Afghan official had been asked to reconsider his stance on Pakistan, otherwise, no conscientious Pakistani would shake hands with him or talk to him.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan and I have always worked for peace in Kabul.

“My blood is boiling over his [Afghan NSA adviser’s] point of view. This person is playing the role of a spoiler,” Mr Qureshi said.

According to a Voice of America report, the Afghan national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, routinely accuses Pakistan and its intelligence agency of supporting and directing the Taliban’s insurgency in Afghanistan, charges Islamabad rejects. In a public speech last month in eastern Nangarhar province close to the border, the adviser not only repeated his allegations but also called Pakistan a “brothel house”.

Hamdullah Mohib delivered incendiary speech in border province Nangarhar last month

His remarks outraged Pakistan leadership who denounced them, saying they “debased all norms of interstate communication”.

The foreign minister said: “Let him [Hamdullah] open his ears and listen that we are talking about stability and peace in Afghanistan.”

He said it was only as the result of Pakistan’s efforts that Israel agreed to a ceasefire that the world eagerly wanted. “Pakistan had played a key role in stopping the atrocities against the Palestinians. The people of Pakistan should be proud that Prime Minister Imran Khan took a clear and unequivocal stand on the Palestinian issue.

“In March 2022, I will put the Kashmir issue before the foreign ministers of the world. The whole nation is one on the issues of Palestine and Kash­mir. Unarmed Palestinians were martyred in Palestine. I was informed by the Palestin­ian foreign minister that 125 bombs were dropped in Gaza in 25 minutes over which the whole world raised its voice. This barbarism was exposed all over the world through social media.

“The world came together because of us. There was an atmosphere all over the world that Israel had to call a ceasefire against its will,” the foreign minister said.

He said although an attempt had been made to sabotage his CNN interview under a plan, he stood firm and fully defended Pakistan’s position on the issue. “When the Jewish lobby attacked me, the whole nation and millions of people defended me. My interview was watched by three million people in 48 hours and they supported my position,” he said.

He also told the party workers that from the platform of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League, the case of Palestinians was placed before the United Nations.

“Standing on the UN forum, I said my eyes are on Gaza as well as Kashmir. The unanimous resolution of Pakistan proved that the nation is one on Palestine and Kashmir. Israel has escalated its atrocities against the Palestinians. Pakistan has fought the case of Palestinians on every platform and advocated for them in the OIC meeting. We also raised our voice in the emergency session of the Arab League and the UN General Assembly. The OIC meeting was still going on when we won and Israel agreed to a ceasefire,” he said.

Not just the Muslim countries, rather the entire world strongly condemned the Israeli aggression, he added.

“Demonstrations against Israel took place across the world. Like Palestine, human rights are being violated in Kashmir as well. The parliament also strengthened me through unanimous resolutions on the issue of Palestine. The National Assembly and the Senate passed unanimous resolutions on this occasion,” Mr Qureshi said.

He said that it was during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz era that the nation got the “gift of grey list” from FATF.

“Some powers tried to put us in the fray of the FATF on political grounds. The FATF no longer had the legitimacy to put Pakistan on the grey list, as with Mr Khan’s efforts, we are coming out of the grey list. If the political sword is not hung over our heads, next month we will fight to end the grey list,” he claimed.

Later talking to media, the minister said Pakistan would not give bases to any country, including the US.

“False rumours are being spread in this regard which have nothing to do with reality. The government of Pakistan and all institutions are of the unanimous opinion that we have to protect the interests of Pakistan and will continue to do so. The nation must have confidence in the leadership. Speculation should not be trusted,” he said.

About upcoming budget session, the minister expressed the hope that the Tareen group comprising ruling party lawmakers would not stand in the way of budget’s approval.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2021