The Afghan foreign minister told members of parliament on Saturday that Pakistan “uses terror as its foreign policy”, and it once occupied almost 90 percent of Afghanistan, a reference to when the Taliban ruled the country. Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said the international community was rewarding Pakistan with aid packages even though it “supports Taliban fighters”.
“Pakistan shouldn’t use terror as its foreign policy,” he said. “I wish that the international community wouldn’t give rewards to countries that are supporting the Taliban.”
Afghan officials frequently accuse Pakistani leaders of harbouring Taliban fighters and commanders, although the Pakistani government
| From what we've seen here, both statements are probably true. Pakland's denials that it harbors the Taliban becomes more laughable with each repetition, since repetitions usually come on the heels of a Pak operation in Afghanistan getting busted. And Perv probably is doing all he can to "fight terrorism," given the constraints of Pak foreign policy - which does rely on terrorism as a basic instrument, thereby requiring a convoluted definition of "terrorism" - and Pak internal politix, which after 60 years of Islamic independence have become so tainted with Islamism as to leave the state barely functional. |
Dawood Muradian, a senior adviser to Spanta, said there was “nothing new” in Spanta’s comments. He said there were some “circles in Pakistan” that did not want to see Afghanistan and Pakistan coexist peacefully. “But we want a good relationship with all our neighbours, including Pakistan,” said Muradian. “We want Pakistan to recognise Afghanistan as an independent country.”
Spanta, who is an ethnic Tajik, said Pakistan once occupied “90 percent of our soil, but they were not satisfied”, a reference to when Taliban fighters, who are mostly ethnic Pashtun, ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996-2001.