Imran Khan, a former prime minister, has come under fire for his policy of appeasing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stressed that the country’s current civil and military leadership will not negotiate with terrorist groups that do not uphold Pakistani law and the Constitution. FM Bilawal rules out talks with TTP.
He expressed his belief that Pakistan and the Afghan government can sustain regional security if they cooperate in an interview with the US-based Washington Post newspaper in Davos on the outskirts of the World Economic Forum.
“The most legitimate and the most viable way for us to address the issue of terrorism will be for the interim government in Afghanistan to take appropriate action against these groups,” Bilawal said, reiterating Islamabad’s demand of the Taliban government in Kabul to weed out terrorist organisations.
The foreign minister offered help in any such efforts. “What we will prefer is for the interim government of Afghanistan to take action against terrorists that may be in their country, and we are ready and willing to help them increase their capacity and ability to deal with that threat,” he said.
“The previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government followed a policy of appeasement towards the TTP. [Former prime minister] Imran Khan not only gave the TTP a place to hide but also released their prisoners, who were in the custody of Pakistan and also interacted with them,” Bilawal said.
Imran, he said, has always supported their point of view on an ideological level. He reiterated Pakistan’s desire for the Afghan government to act against the TTP. “Our hope and indeed their agreement was that their land would not be used for terrorism,” the foreign minister said.
“Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are victims of terrorism and I do not believe that the Afghan government will be successful on its own against terrorism, nor will we succeed against terrorism on our own. We have to work together to fight the scourge of terrorism.”
“We’re not interested in launching a cross-border operation, nor would we want to advocate for more military intervention after what we’ve already seen was the longest war,” he said. “We’ve seen the fall of Kabul and the consequences that has had on our economy,” he further added.
If murdered Benazir Bhutto had been alive in 2007, the foreign minister agreed with the Washington Post correspondent that not only would Pakistan have been different, but the region would have progressed in a different way.
FM Bilawal rules out talks with TTP as he emphasised that the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) goal is to turn Pakistan into a democratic country. “We believe that democracy is the only way to deal with extremism and terrorism. Our party’s manifesto speaks best on the major issues of the country, including inflation and unemployment.
When asked whether he can become the prime minister of Pakistan this year, Bilawal said that “obviously” he has to win the election first. “My party will hope that we will win,” he said. “If our party gets the most votes, I will try to form the government as the prime minister. And [we] will form a coalition government.”
He said that the challenges facing the country were multidimensional, as “everyone is facing inflation and difficult economic problems”. He added: “I am not sure any single party will be able to solve all the problems of Pakistan.”
