PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party has expressed its serious concern over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and asked the government to come up with a clear policy to deal with the fallout of civil war in the neighbouring country.

Speaking at a press conference at his party secretariat here on Sunday, QWP Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said that besides Pakistan, China and Russia should also play an effective role to control the increasing violence in Afghanistan.

He said that serious efforts should be made to stop the bloodshed. He said it was the responsibility of the US to take the Afghan government on board while holding peace negotiations with Taliban.

“It is unfortunate that the US bypassed the democratically-elected Afghan government while holding negotiations with Taliban,” he said, adding the war had intensified in Afghanistan after the Doha agreement.

Says China and Russia should play role to control violence in the war-torn country

Expressing his concern over the increasing violence in the neighbouring country, he said war was not the solution to any issue, therefore talks should be held to bring an end to the hostilities in Afghanistan.

Mr Sherpao also said that it was unfortunate that Pakistan was not invited on Aug 6 to the UN Security Council meeting on the prevailing situation in Afghanistan. He said being a neighbouring country Pakistan’s presence in the meeting was a must.

He said that Pakistan would suffer from the spillover of violence, urging the government to evolve a strategy to cope with the situation.

“The security situation has started worsening in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and the government should take pragmatic measures to maintain law and order. He said had the National Action Plan been implemented fully the situation would have been much better.

The QWP chief said Pakistan should establish camps for the refugees near the Pak-Afghan border to facilitate the dislocated people. He called for efforts to end the trust deficit between Kabul and Islamabad. He said that the two countries should ensure that their soil was not used against each other.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has failed to materialise its election manifesto, he said and claimed that the government was taking dictation from the IMF. He said that the government had focused its attention only on harassing the opposition parties.

About the price hike, he said the country had recorded the highest inflation in the last three years due to flawed policies of the rulers.

He said that repeated increase in prices of petroleum products, electricity and edible items had made the lives of people miserable.

The QWP chief said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing surplus electricity and natural gas, but even then its residents faced unscheduled and prolonged power and gas outages.

Party’s provincial chairman Sikandar Sherpao and other leaders were also present on the occasion where a group of Pakistan Peoples Party workers led by Fahim Zaidi, Abdul Wahab and Mohammad Ishaq announced joining the QWP along with their supporters. Some workers of Jamaat-i-Islami led by Salman Khan also joined the QWP.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021