ISLAMABAD: Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on Monday called for revival of talks between Pakistan and outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), denying that the TTP is using Afghan soil to carry out attacks in the neighbouring country.

“As for Pakistan’s security concerns, we ask that the government of Pakistan and the TTP sit together and find a solution to these problems on their own,” said FM Muttaqi while delivering a lecture at the Institute of Strategic Studies on the last day of his four-day visit to Pakistan.

He hoped the problems would be solved through dialogue, turning the challenges into opportunities, efforts to boost trade and economic cooperation between the two nations. He said the Afghan government managed to double trade with Pakistan from US$1.1bn to $2.4bn in past one year and hoped to boost it over $5bn.

The remarks came amid a spike in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, majority of which have been claimed by banned outfits including TTP. This surge in terror attacks was seen after Kabul-hosted talks between the TTP and the Pakistan government collapsed, resulting in an end to the ceasefire in November 2022.

Afghan FM says economic ties suffered due to political, security issues

Answering a volley of questions about the TTP, which is seen as one of the main perpetrators of recent terror attacks in Pakistan, Mr Muttaqi denied that the TTP was using Afghan soil to carry out attacks in Pakistan. “The Islamic Emirate has fulfilled its responsibility. The IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) was able to bring both sides to the table. We hosted the talks between Pakistan and the TTP,” he said.

In an apparent bid to absolve the Afghan Taliban — which came to power in Kabul in 2021— from any responsibility regarding the TTP, he also argued the TTP was not a recent movement. He said Pakistan had admitted 80,000 Pakistanis had embraced martyrdom in past 20 years. “This is an old issue,” he said, while also assuring Pakistan that his government was making efforts to ensure peace in the region.

“We do not want the flames of war in our neighbouring country, Pak­istan. There should be no bloodshed in Pakistan. This is our official policy,” he asserted.

Sharing details about his visit, he said Islamabad and Kabul had discussed ways to make progress on security issues. “We have talked to Pakistani officials about this issue. We will keep on talking to Pakistan. It will be our request that problems should be resolved thro­ugh diplomatic channels and negotiations. There are hopes that the situation will further improve in the future,” he added.

About the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the minister said: “Our first order of business at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to convey to the region and beyond, our desire to forge a new foreign policy based on cooperative dialogue and joint interactions. When it comes to Pakistan, our initial focus was on increasing economic ties, with economic connectivity and transit at its core.

“We are continuously striving to increase regional connectivity. From TAPI to CASA 1000 to TAP-500kV to Afghan-Trans railway and connecting South to Central Asia through Afghanistan, we continue to advocate for greater integration. We recently facilitated the transfer of gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, via Afghanistan, halving the distance previously traversed to reach Quetta to 900km. After this successful trial, we are committed to supporting this process as a permanent route that guarantees the interests of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan,” he said.

The ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan were beyond the neighborhood, he added.

“For too long, the economic and people-to-people ties of the two countries have been sacrificed at the altar of political and security considerations, resulting in the loss of major opportunities,” he noted. He said the two nations have long been suffering from insecurity, economic stagnation, climate change, and others. He vowed to turn the problems into opportunities so that the economic relations could have a positive cascading impact on other spheres as well.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2023