KARACHI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen­eral Asim Munir has said that the only points of contention between Pakistan and Afghanistan are the presence of the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan outfit in the latter and cross-border attacks.

The remarks attributed to the army chief were carried by state broadcaster PTV News and were reportedly delivered during his meeting with politicians from Khyber Pakhtun­kh­­wa in Peshawar, a day earlier.

Relations between Pak­istan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmi­sh­­es, and Islamabad has rep­eatedly demanded that Kabul take action against the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it claims is using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan. Kabul, however, denies the allegations.

Addressing the issue in his meeting with politicians on Monday, the army chief said Afghanistan was a “brotherly neighbour [and] an Islamic country” with which Pakistan “has always wanted” better relations.

Army chief says no TTP ‘influence’ in any part of the country

“The only difference with Afghanistan is the presence of Fitna al-Khawarij (the term used to refer to the banned TTP) in Afghanistan and the spread of terrorism in Pakistan from across the border, and it will remain so until they remove this issue,” the army chief was quoted as saying.

The army chief further said: “Our policy is only Pakistan.”

Gen Munir also said that no large-scale operation was being carried out in KP, adding that only targeted intelligence-based operations were being carried out.

He pointed out that the TTP doesn’t have influence in any part of the country.

The army chief said that everyone would have to stand together against terrorism without discrimination and prejudice as politics could only be conducted if there was a state. “If there is no state, then there is nothing,” he added.

Gen Munir said the situation would improve if everyone wor­ked together and cooperated.

“There is a special relationship between the people and the army. In this relationship, the false narrative of a gap is mainly driven by a specific agenda from abroad,” the COAS was quoted as saying.

He further said that the agreement of all parties on the National Action Plan (NAP) was encouraging but it had to be worked on quickly.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2025