Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday warned that the Afghan Taliban government could face consequences if it failed to take action against terrorist groups operating from its territory.
“If the Afghan government does not take action against terrorists, one day it will have to face the consequences itself,” Dar said while addressing an international conference organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on “Pakistan’s Evolving Terrorism Landscape” in Islamabad.
Speaking at the conference, Dar described terrorism as one of the biggest challenges facing the region and the international community, highlighting Pakistan’s sacrifices in its fight against militancy.
He said Pakistan had lost more than 90,000 lives in the war against terrorism and urged the international community to acknowledge the country’s losses.
The deputy prime minister also referred to the Jaffar Express incident and the abduction and killing of workers in Balochistan as examples of the security challenges confronting Pakistan.
He said counterterrorism operations were being conducted daily on the instructions of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Dar said Pakistan had repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to prevent their territory from being used to launch terrorist attacks against neighbouring countries.
“Pakistan has only one demand from Afghanistan: that it should not allow its territory to be used for terrorism,” he said.
He noted that Islamabad had held several rounds of talks with Afghan officials and undertaken visits to Afghanistan to discuss counterterrorism cooperation.
Referring to a trilateral meeting involving Pakistan, China and Afghanistan held in Kabul in August last year, Dar said the Afghan Taliban government had failed to honour its commitments to address terrorism.
He warned that the presence of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations in Afghanistan posed a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
The deputy prime minister urged the Afghan Taliban authorities to immediately halt the provision of weapons and other assistance to terrorist groups.
Dar also accused India of supporting terrorism in Pakistan, citing the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad identifies as a serving Indian naval officer involved in espionage, sabotage and terrorist activities.
He said Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies had confronted terrorism with determination, but the persistent threat had adversely affected the country’s image and international reputation.
Calling for greater international cooperation, Dar stressed the need to strengthen the capacity of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies, saying that merely acknowledging the country’s sacrifices was insufficient.
He said militants frequently crossed into Pakistan through mountainous terrain to carry out attacks before retreating to safe havens across the border.
According to Dar, a sharp increase in terrorist attacks had prompted Pakistan to close its border with Afghanistan.
However, he said Islamabad subsequently allowed 1,000 containers to enter Afghanistan following communication from the United Nations.
Describing the banned TTP as a major threat to Pakistan’s national security, Dar claimed that terrorist organisations operating against the country continued to receive external support.
He warned that militant safe havens being used to launch attacks against Pakistan could eventually threaten the security of other countries as well.
