Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said Pakistan would cooperate and strengthen ties with Kabul regardless of who is in office. “It was the Afghan people’s prerogative to elect officials and choose the government,” the prime minister noted.
Addressing a two-day ‘Pakistan-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Forum 2020’ in Islamabad, Imran said Afghanistan was part of the Mughal empire. “The nomads would travel from Central Asia to India and back for economic activities. Even the official language of the Mughal court was Farsi.”
“Our government has decided to strengthen ties with Kabul, no matter who is in power, to counter India’s evil designs,” he said.
Imran regretted the 40-year-old conflict in Afghanistan and stressed that Pakistan was the second-most affected country “especially in the last 18 years. The past serves only one purpose: to teach us,” he reflected. “Those who are stuck in the past ruin their future.”
The premier said it was time to analyse the gains and losses of the past. “Pakistan has learned from history that no foreign force can influence the narrative in Afghanistan. Afghans make their own decisions. Outside interference is never successful.”
Speaking of the past, the prime minister lamented Narendra Modi administration in India. “Never has India seen a government so anti-Muslim. The RSS propagates ethnic cleansing of Muslim.”
“I know India the best,” he continued. “Because of cricket, I have many ties and friendships there so I tried a lot in the beginning until I realized the ideological differences.”
“So there is a fear in Pakistan that India will use Afghanistan to destabilise the country. But we have decided that we will back the wishes of the people of Afghanistan because the future of this region lies in the relationship and cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
“But we will keep trying,” he said, adding that the current hateful campaign against Muslims was unprecedented in India. “Over eight million Kashmiris remain in an open jail.”
“So, we are suspicious of New Delhi using Afghan soil to design terrorist activities to destablise Pakistan,” said Imran. “Yet, we have decided to accept and cooperate with whoever Afghan people bring to power.”
