The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to abandon what he described as a militant mindset and adopt a more responsible approach to help achieve lasting peace and prosperity in the region.
“Pakistan believes in peace, Pakistan has always believed in
peace, and we believe in peaceful coexistence,” Tarar said while addressing a
conference titled “Afghan Predicament and the Trajectory to Peace.” The event
was organized by the International Parliamentarians Congress in collaboration
with Pakistani lawmaker Sitara Ayaz.
Tarar said Pakistan and Afghanistan would remain neighboring
countries despite years of tensions and called for resolving differences
through negotiations and dialogue.
Pakistan has hosted about 4 million Afghan refugees over
several decades, demonstrating its “generosity” toward the Afghan people, Tarar
said. He added that Pakistan had sent several high-level delegations to
Afghanistan in an effort to address bilateral issues and promote peaceful
coexistence.
He said negotiations had also taken place in third countries,
including Türkiye and Qatar.
“Peace can be achieved, yes. Was peace given a chance, yes.
But is there a will to achieve peace? The answer, unfortunately, is no,” Tarar
said.
He attributed the continuing problems to what he called a
militant mindset and said Afghanistan’s interim government needed to adopt a
statesmanlike and responsible approach.
Tarar also highlighted the potential for greater regional
trade, saying transport corridors linking Central Asia with Pakistan through
Afghanistan could create economic opportunities for people in both countries.
He said Pakistan offered landlocked Central Asian countries
a relatively short route to seaports and could serve as a transit hub for trade
through the region. But he identified militancy and violent extremism as major
obstacles to developing such trade links.
Tarar alleged that Afghanistan was providing safe havens to
militants and members of internationally proscribed organizations. He said
Pakistan had raised the issue through negotiations and advocated for a
sustainable framework to establish peace.
The minister also criticized restrictions on Afghan women,
saying the exclusion of large numbers of women from the workforce was limiting
Afghanistan’s economic development. He said fundamental rights were being
denied to some sections of Afghan society based on what he described as a
self-created interpretation of Islam.
Tarar said Pakistan would continue pursuing dialogue and
negotiations and had made clear that peace was the only path to prosperity.
He said a greater understanding of that principle could help
narrow differences between the Afghan people and their interim government.
Tarar also praised Ayaz for organizing the event and the
International Parliamentarians Congress for fostering links among parliaments
and providing a forum to discuss international issues and crises.
