Pakistan against India's security role in Afghanistan

Briefing the Upper House on the February 29 peace deal between the US and Taliban, Qureshi told the house that India had always played the role of a spoiler. There were spoilers in the past and they are even today, within and outside Afghanistan, who want to get their objectives.

Islamabad: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday told the Senate that Pakistan neither desires any security role of India in Afghanistan nor wants the presence of militant organisations - Al-Qaeda and ISIS - in the landlocked country.

Briefing the Upper House on the February 29 peace deal between the US and Taliban, he told the house that India had always played the role of a spoiler. There were spoilers in the past and they are even today, within and outside Afghanistan, who want to get their objectives.

Pakistan doesn't want that footprints of Al-Qaeda and Daesh or ISIS to grow in Afghanistan because their presence would disrupt peace in the region, the minister said in a policy statement in the house.

Talking about the joint declaration issued by the US and the Afghan government in Kabul the same day when peace agreement was signed and the former's offer to the latter to help address its misunderstandings with Pakistan, Qureshi said that Pakistan wanted to resolve all issues with Afghanistan bilaterally.

"The third force cannot find a way out for us," he said adding that this would be a preferred option for Pakistan.

Reiterating that Pakistan was never part of the peace talks and their role has always been and will always be that of a facilitator, Qureshi said Pakistan cannot give guarantee or take responsibility for peace in Afghanistan.

"This is a shared responsibility and all stakeholders will have to play their role. There are many powers, interests and motives involved," he added.

He said that the true test of the Afghan leadership begins now as Afghan people want peace. "Can they rise to the occasion and chart a peaceful way forward or not, only time will tell." He added that Pakistan would not be able to bear the influx of more refugees if Afghanistan witnessed instability. If violence erupts in the neighbouring country, there will be a spillover of it in Pakistan.

Highlighting Pakistan's objectives to bring peace in the war-torn country, the foreign minister argued that Pakistan wishes secure and regulated border with Afghanistan but would never want joint operations. We also wish to see safe and respectful return of Afghan refugees and want to remove a negative perception about Pakistan present in the minds of a certain faction in Afghanistan, he said adding that Pakistan would engage with such people.

"There were some forces in the past and there are present today who are skeptic about the deal," he said adding that some people in Afghanistan and the US understand that the effort will be futile. He explained if peace prevails in Afghanistan, it has a dividend with having a positive effect on Pakistan who will getting opportunities to enhance regional connectivity and restart its stalled projects with central Asian states. Similarly, landlocked countries would get trade routes through Gwadar Port and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Project would benefit from this.

(With inputs from IANS)