Will not let India use Afghan soil for ‘terrorism’ against Pakistan — information minister

A Pakistani soldier stands guard at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman on August 20, 2021. (AFP)

• Says Pakistan’s General Faiz Hameed not the first or only intelligence chief to visit Kabul recently 
• India and Pakistan both want to secure influence in Kabul after the withdrawal of US and allied forces

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said Pakistan would not let India use Afghan soil to commit acts of “terrorism” against Pakistan, state-run APP news agency reported on Monday.
The nuclear-armed neighbors both want to secure influence in Kabul after the withdrawal of US and allied forces and the takeover of the country by the Taliban last month.
Pakistan has deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused of supporting the group as it battled the former US-backed government in Kabul — charges denied by Islamabad, which in turn says India’s huge aid push in Afghanistan is meant to send a message to Islamabad. Pakistan also accuses India of funding and supporting anti-Pakistan militants, many of them based in Afghanistan. Both New Delhi and Kabul deny the accusations.
Islamabad is particularly worried about militant fighters from a separate, Pakistani Taliban group crossing from Afghanistan and launching lethal attacks on its territory. Thousands of Pakistanis have been killed in militant violence in the last two decades.
“We will not let India to use the Afghanistan land for terrorism against Pakistan,” Hussain said while speaking to the media, adding that Pakistan wanted stability and peace in the neighboring country and would not take a unilateral decision on recognizing the Taliban but would consult with regional countries and global powers.
Speaking about a visit to Kabul this weekend by Pakistani spy chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, Hussain said the general was not the first intelligence chief who had visited Kabul recently, saying US, Turkish and Qatari intelligence officials had also taken trips to Afghanistan according to media reports.
“Any situation in Afghanistan would have deep impact on Pakistan, because it has strategic, political, social and economic relations with the neighboring country, so we cannot ignore Afghanistan,” the minister said.
“Currently, there is a political vacuum in Afghanistan and no government is in place there. In such a situation, the intelligence relations are used to remove each other’s reservations and bring the two sides to dialogue to establish good relations.”