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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the United States was in a state of “shock and confusion.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that “sooner or later” the US government will have to recognize the Taliban that now rules Afghanistan.
In a TV interview with Turkish state-affiliated TRT World, Khan said on Saturday that the United States was in a state of “shock and confusion” after the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15.
Khan also said that the American public is currently looking for a scapegoat and “unfairly targeting” US President Joe Biden.
Critics say that after Biden decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the Western-backed government collapsed. Despite the tremendous pressure, Biden insisted on withdrawing troops within the August 31 deadline, ending the longest war in the United States.
The U.S. withdrawal is part of the agreement signed by President Donald Trump and the Taliban in 2020. The agreement signed in Doha, the capital of Qatar, also requires the Taliban to not allow armed groups such as Al Qaeda to use Afghan territory to attack the United States and its allies.
But the Taliban’s dramatic military takeover of Afghanistan prompted the United States and international financial institutions to cut ties with the country. The assets value of Afghanistan’s central bank exceeded 9 billion U.S. dollars and was frozen by the United States, triggering a liquidity crisis.
‘Unfreeze Afghan Reserves’
The Prime Minister of Pakistan emphasized that if the United States does not unfreeze Afghan reserves, the country may face “chaos” and the United States must come up with a solution.
Pakistan, neighboring Afghanistan, fears that the economic and humanitarian crisis will have spillover effects on it. It has taken in nearly 3.5 million Afghan refugees.
Islamabad is considered to have close ties with the Taliban. During the 20-year anti-American occupation, many of the Taliban’s leadership remained in Pakistan. The Khan government has always called on Western governments to deal with the Taliban.
When asked if he was “pro-Taliban”, Khan replied that he was an “anti-military solution” and the only way to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan was through peaceful means.
Khan went on to say that Pakistan’s singular recognition of the Taliban would not “have much influence”, but the joint recognition of regional powers and neighboring countries would be a better solution.
In the interview, Khan revealed that his government is currently conducting peace talks with some organizations within the Pakistani Taliban, referred to as TTP. He further revealed that the talks are being held in Afghanistan and that if reconciliation is achieved, the members of the Taliban will be “forgiven” .
The Prime Minister of Pakistan stated that the international community should not “selectively” pay attention to human rights violations and should also resolve the issue of the Indian military’s blockade of India-controlled Kashmir.
He pointed out that Afghanistan is currently at a historical stage, either towards stability after 40 years of war, or towards the wrong direction. The chaos and huge humanitarian and refugee crisis will affect all of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries.
When answering questions about Pakistan-US relations, Khan said that the two countries have always maintained contact.
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