On Saturday, Khawaja Asif, the federal minister of defense, chastised the Afghan government for failing to take action against militants along the Pakistani border, even though the Pakistani government had made numerous pleas for it.
Asif stated in an interview with Urdu that while Pakistan expected the Afghan government to cooperate, the latter was not prepared to deal with the insurgents.
“To move the militants towards the western border, Pakistan even offered to grant Rs 10 billion; however, there was concern that they might return from that area as well,” he stated.
Asif had stated that Pakistan might target terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan across the border as part of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam in an interview with Voice of America (VoA) on Thursday. Additionally, he has ruled out the prospect of holding talks with Pakistan’s outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban.
It should be mentioned that Pakistan has repeatedly asked the Taliban administration to prevent the TTP and other terrorist organizations from using its territory in order to stop cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
Concurrently, Pakistan has chosen to take part in the June 30–July 30 UN-hosted discussions on Afghanistan in the capital of Qatar, according to diplomatic sources that Geo News has spoken to.
Pakistan may voice its worries about cross-border terrorism during the third session of the Doha talks, which the Taliban authorities announced earlier this month.
In response to queries about whether the new counterterrorism initiative was being pushed through, the minister stated that Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was a necessity for the government and not a demand from the army.
