LONDON, April 30 Every day some 70,000 to 75,000 Afghans cross over the Durand Line into Pakistan, they all look alike and every one of them could be mistaken for a Taliban but they enter our country without let or hindrance on either side of the border, claimed Pakistan's deputy high commissioner Asif Durrani.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on 'Pakistan and Afghanistan Strategies for the future', organised by National Union of Pakistani Students & Alumni (NUPSA) at the London School of Economics on Wednesday evening.

He said Pakistan's 9/11 happened some 30 years ago when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. “Since then both Afghanistan and Pakistan are in the grip of bloody violence.”

He was highly critical of the West and the US for turning a blind eye on the drug menace which he said was actually funding the Taliban war efforts.

“Afghanistan is the source of 93 per cent of world's drug supply which by the time it reaches the streets of Europe and the US turns into a bounty of over $38 billion and out of that at least about $3.8 billion reach the Taliban which they use for the purchase of sophisticated weaponry, the state of the art communications systems and costly jeeps on which they mount missiles,” he added.

He asked the US, Nato and UK to plug the routes through which these drugs were smuggled out and the war equipment was smuggled in the Pak-Afghan border areas, instead of asking Pakistan to do more.

“Most of the weaponry being used by the Taliban is new, not the one used 30 years ago when the Soviets were occupying Afghanistan. We don't know where they are coming from. We need our Nato friends to help us to find the source so that we could put a stop to it.”

He said Pakistan was facing a tactical threat from the Taliban and not a strategic threat. “They don't have the numbers to hold on to the towns they capture using terror tactics.”

He disdainfully rejected what he called the 'Harvard' and 'Oxford' solutions and said Pakistan should be allowed to tackle the problem using 'home-grown' solutions.

He said the 'Harvard' and 'Oxford' solutions were only creating resentment among the people of Pakistan against the US, Europe and the UK.

He said Pakistan did not want aid but desired trade and foreign investment. “But on this score, our friends have been not very helpful and mind you the travel advisories also do not help much.”

Peter Lord of the US embassy in the UK participating in the discussion held that for his country, Pakistan and Afghanistan were two countries but one challenge.

He conceded that the drug trafficking was a serious problem but said at least Nato had no drug policy. “This problem is confined to Helmand”, he added implying that it was the responsibility of the UK whose troops were stationed there to tackle it.

Jim Donegan of the US embassy said the US did not give direct budget support but buttressed the IMF programme, “We would like to invest in Reconstruction Opportunity Zones, in building democratic institutions and in energy projects.”

Speaking earlier, Farid Popal of Afghanistan embassy said the Afghan government was focussed on development and peace but blamed Pakistan for the continued violence in his country. He accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to the terrorist sanctuaries and terror training camps in the tribal areas.

Professor Richard Bonney chaired the discussion and also introduced the speakers.