KARACHI: Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has slammed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for proposing that the province should hold direct talks with Afghanistan on the issue of terrorism.

In an interview on Geo News’ programme Jirga aired on Saturday, Ms Khar said the idea of every province pursuing their foreign policy is “idiotic”.

“Let state be the state. If every province starts pursuing their own foreign policy, it’d be tantamount to challenging the Constitution. Foreign policy is entirely a federal subject,” she said.

Earlier this week, the KP CM expressed his intentions to bypass the federal government and send a delegation to Kabul to speak to the Afghan Taliban government for their help in bringing peace to KP.

Says anyone proposing dialogue should see results of previous deal with TTP; Saif rebuffs criticism, claims KP wants strong ties with Kabul

The statement provoked strong reactions from the Foreign Office and the federal government, who reminded Mr Gandapur that foreign policy was a federal subject.

Past agreement with TTP

According to Ms Khar, it is a “fallacy” to think that the solution to Pakistan’s problem of terrorism lies in talking to the Afghan Taliban government.

She added that anyone proposing talks with Kabul on this matter should see the consequences of the previous agreement with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during PTI’s government.

As part of the talks brokered by the Afghan Taliban, TTP militants were allowed to return to their respective areas.

Since the ouster of the PTI government in 2022, the civil and military leaderships have blamed the policy of dialogue for the resurgence of terrorism in the country.

According to Ms Khar, TTP is Pakistan’s redline, which the Afghan Taliban are unwilling to accept.

Strong ties with Kabul

On the other hand, KP CM’s adviser on information Barrister Saif has rebuffed the criticism of

Mr Gandapur’s proposals, pointing out that the KP government wants social and trade relations with Afghanistan.

In a statement, he said both neighbouring countries stand to benefit from better ties, which are also vital for regional peace, according to media reports.

In reply to the contention that foreign policy was a federal subject, Mr Saif said that after the 18th Amendment, provinces have been empowered to make foreign trips and sign agreements on a government-to-government level.

He claimed that in the past, Shehbaz Sharif, in his capacity as Punjab chief minister, visited foreign countries and negotiated trade deals.

Mr Saif added that CM Gandapur “has held and will continue to hold meetings” with foreign diplomats, including Afghan representatives, to promote regional peace and trade.

Earlier on Friday, former prime minister Imran Khan also endorsed Mr Gandapur’s proposal to hold direct talks with the Afghan Taliban. “I fully support the stance of Ali Amin Gandapur. He is absolutely correct,” Mr Khan said, adding that the federal government should “support” the KP CM as dialogue is the “only solution to end terrorism”.

He added that Mr Gandapur’s proposal “could not be ignored” as he is speaking “for the sake of the country”.

When a reporter asked him if the Foreign Office was the appropriate forum for dialogues, Mr Khan replied that KP is the province most affected by terrorism.

Mr Khan expressed the apprehension that the economy would collapse if terrorism was not eliminated and stressed the need for mending ties with Afghanistan to eliminate terrorism.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024