ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has summoned the Afghan envoy in Islamabad and demanded that the Taliban government distanced itself from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militants backed by India’s intelligence agency RAW in Afghanistan.
Pakistan urged the Afghan Taliban government to sever ties with the internationally designated terrorist group TTP and fulfil its commitment to eliminate them from its soil.
The message was delivered through Afghanistan’s interim envoy in Islamabad, Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, who was summoned to the Foreign Office.
He was told in clear terms that the Taliban government must ensure Afghan soil is not used for terrorist activities.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that the Taliban envoy was called in light of the recent surge in activities of “Khawarij terrorists” who are sheltering in Afghanistan and receiving full financial support and patronage from India’s intelligence agency RAW.
Diplomatic sources said that interim Afghan envoy Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb was summoned to the Foreign Office and Additional Foreign Secretary Syed Ali Asad Gillani delivered Pakistan’s warning to the Taliban representative.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, has returned from an unannounced mission to the UAE concerning Afghanistan.
He will present a detailed report of his engagements to the prime minister and is expected to lead a senior delegation to Kabul later this week.
Earlier, Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob had said that his country does not want strained relations with Pakistan and seeks to resolve existing problems through dialogue.
Yaqoob, the eldest son of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the late Taliban founder, made the remarks in an interview with BBC Pashto in Kabul.
The Taliban deputy chief, who is also among the movement’s most influential leaders, said: “We never want our relations with Pakistan to remain tense or bad. We believe that strained relations are not in the interest of either Pakistan or Afghanistan. Our effort is to reconcile in every area and respect each other’s rights as neighbours.”
The Afghan defence minister dismissed Pakistani leaders’ assertion that militant groups use Afghan soil for attacks against Pakistan, instead accusing Islamabad of shifting blame.
“TTP (the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and BLA (the banned Baloch Liberation Army) conduct their operations inside Pakistan, hundreds of kilometres away from the Durand Line,” he said. “If they are entering from Afghanistan and travelling such long distances inside Pakistan, why are they not stopped there? Whether it’s a car bomb, a targeted killing, or an explosion, it should be prevented inside Pakistan. I think this shows the weakness of their security agencies, which is being blamed on Afghanistan to cover it up.”
In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson said that Mullah Yaqoob cannot downplay the seriousness of the presence of Pakistani militant groups using Afghan soil to carry out terrorism in Pakistan.