Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Friday that the remaining border fencing will be completed with the consent of the Taliban-led Afghanistan government as they are “our brothers,” Aaj News reported.
“Around 2,600 kilometres of the border had been fenced so far. The remaining 21km would be completed with the consent of our brothers,” Rashid said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
His remarks come amid reports of recent skirmishes between Taliban fighters and the Pakistan Army over border fencing.
Last month, several videos on social media showed Taliban fighters uprooting a portion of the fence along the Pak-Afghan border, saying that the fencing had been done inside Afghan territory.
Border fencing issue being addressed: Taliban
Later, Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarzmi also opposed border fencing. In a video message, he said that fencing was creating a divide; it was “inappropriate and against the law.”
Reacting to these reports, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi conceded on January 3 that there were “some complications” about the fencing of the Pak-Afghan border. He, however, said that the issue will be resolved soon.
The next day, a Taliban government spokesperson said that the border fencing issue would be addressed through diplomatic channels.
However, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar on January 5 categorically said that fencing of the border would continue as soldiers had laid their lives to erect it.
On January 12, the Taliban’s Representative in Islamabad Sardar Ahmed Khan Shakeeb said that border fencing was a minor issue and is under discussion between the two governments. He said that the issue shall be resolved amicably with deliberations with locals of both sides of the borders.
While addressing a webinar organised by Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR), the Taliban representative said that it was not in the interest of Afghanistan that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should operate from Afghanistan.
He said that the Afghan government will not allow any country or organisation to use Afghan territory against any third country.
About relations with India, Sardar Ahmed Khan said that they would like to have only positive economic relations with all countries in the region including India without any negativity in it. He said that through OIC Summit the humanitarian aid has been promised to Afghanistan and he thanked all countries and specifically Pakistan who had come forward to help them.
Comments
Comments are closed.