Under Taliban Only Afghanistan Stable; Pak Still Suffers From Attacks, Says Durrani

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, referring to Tahreek-Taliban-Pakistan's (TTP) attacks in Pakistan, said that Taliban brought peace and security to Afghanistan, however, such benefits did not extend to Pakistan.

Durrani asked the Taliban to hand over TTP members to Islamabad or eliminate their threat.

On Thursday, Asif Durrani spoke about Afghanistan at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. During his speech, Durrani acknowledged that Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan has always been difficult, but he praised that the Afghan governments did not collude with India, Pakistan's enemy.

He was referring to the two wars between India and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, when Afghanistan declared neutrality despite political and border disputes with Pakistan and friendly relations with India.

He said that "negotiations are underway on Afghan soil" to end TTP attacks, however, he added that at this time, he could not provide more details about the negotiations to the public.

Durrani stated that currently, Pakistan doesn’t blame the Taliban regime [for the TTP attacks], however, they expect the Taliban to contribute to maintaining peace in their border areas.

He added that TTP members who have taken refuge in Afghanistan should either return to Pakistan or that threat should be neutralised.

Durrani said that Pakistani militias use modern weapons that remained in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal.

The Pakistani representative expressed support for the commencement of dialogue and reconciliation in Afghanistan. However, he argued that the Doha Agreement is not a viable foundation for political talks. According to him, it is essential to identify the necessary steps for reconciliation and dialogue among Afghanistan's political factions.

He said that only Afghans have the ability to establish a normal situation in Afghanistan, not the neighbouring countries, including Pakistan.