Bilawal says govt can take action against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday warned that Pakistan will be compelled to take action against terrorist hideouts within Afghanistan being its right of self-defence under international law in case the Afghan interim authorities failed to take “appropriate” action against the terrorist outfits involved in terrorist activities in the country.

The foreign minister was responding to media queries at the launch of a digitised system under FM’s Change Management Initiative at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To a question whether Pakistan is considering any action against the hideouts of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terror outfits inside Afghanistan, he said Pakistan’s preference was that the Afghan interim government authorities must take action against them as per their international commitments in the Doha agreement which bound them that they would not allow its soil to be used by any terrorist outfit.

FM underscores need for capacity-building of Afghan authorities

He said Pakistan was ready to provide any assistance if the Afghan interim government needed so. “If they [the Afghan authorities] request us for any assistance [in action against the terrorists], I am sure the government of Pakistan will be ready to extend a helping hand to the Afghan interim government – that should also be a preferable option for Pakistan,” he said.

“As far as the question about any action to be taken by Pakistan itself against the terrorists within Afghanistan, we do not desire to take such a step, but as per the international law, we have the right reserved to take action in self-defence. If there are persistent terrorist attacks and no appropriate action is taken by them [Afghan authorities], then as a last resort such an option is also available,” he said.

“As far as terrorism is concerned, Pakistan’s policy is very clear. We neither want appeasement with the terrorists nor we have tolerance [for terrorism]. We want to restore peace and establish the writ of the State and want to counter these [terror] groups,” he added.

He said that after the fall of Kabul, terrorism had increased in Pakistan. The foreign minister said the weapons left by NATO and the US had now fallen not only into the hands of terrorists but also into the hands of criminal gangs and dacoits.

He further revealed that the operation against armed dacoits in Katcha area was becoming difficult because the supplies left by NATO, had unfortunately fallen into the hands of terrorists and criminal gangs.

“This indeed is a challenge for the state of Pakistan, but I am hopeful that with unity we can defeat them as we did in the past,” he expressed optimism.

To another question, the foreign minister said that Pakistan does not want to become part of any bloc politics on the world stage. He said that Pakistan wants that all the conflicts are resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Foreign Minister Bilawal said in his speech that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has successfully completed work on four projects in collaboration with the NITB.

After digitalization, financial management, human resources, and visitors management systems including email will be improved while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be able to benefit from solar energy in the next six months.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023