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The Prime Minister of Pakistan accused the United States of thinking that his country is only useful in the context of the “chaos” it left in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the United States of thinking that his country is only useful in the context of the “chaos” left in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting.
Washington has been urging Pakistan to use its influence over the Taliban to facilitate an elusive peace agreement, as negotiations between the fighters and the Afghan government have stalled and the violence in Afghanistan has escalated sharply.
Khan told foreign reporters at his home in Islamabad on Wednesday: “Pakistan is only considered useful only if this mess is resolved in some way.
The United States will withdraw its troops on August 31, 20 years after the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001. But with the departure of the United States, the Taliban control more territory today than at any time since then.
Kabul and several Western governments stated that Pakistan’s support for the armed group allowed it to survive the war.
Despite being an ally of the United States, the allegations of supporting the Taliban have long been a pain point between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan denies support for the Taliban.
Khan said Islamabad did not favor any side in Afghanistan.
“I think the Americans have now decided that India is their strategic partner, and I think that’s why there is a different way of treating Pakistan now,” Khan said.
Pakistan and India are rivals and have fought three wars. The relationship between the two is indifferent, and the current diplomatic relationship is minimal.
Khan added that under current conditions, a political settlement in Afghanistan looks difficult.
He said that when the Taliban leaders visited Pakistan, he tried to persuade them to reach a settlement.
“The condition is that as long as Ashraf Ghani is there, we (the Taliban) will not talk to the Afghan government,” Khan said, quoting what the Taliban leader told him.
Also on Wednesday, the Pakistani military stated in a statement that all stakeholders should “play an active role for lasting peace in Afghanistan”, calling it a “collective responsibility.”
It quoted the commander-in-chief of the military, General Kamal Javed Bajwa, as saying that misunderstandings and scapegoats must be avoided to counter the design of the saboteurs.
The Taliban, which regards Ghani and his government as a puppet of the United States, and the team of Afghan negotiators nominated by Kabul started peace talks in September last year, but no substantive progress has been made.
Representatives of some countries, including the United States, are currently conducting final negotiations with the two sides in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to promote a ceasefire.
The US military continues to use airstrikes to support the Afghan army’s offensive against the Taliban, but it is unclear whether this support will continue after August 31.
Khan said that Pakistan has “clearly stated” that it does not wish to have any US military bases in Pakistan after the U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan.
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