‘Pakistan will do to Kabul what it did to Delhi’: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD:

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday warned Afghanistan that if Kabul failed to stop harbouring terrorists, Pakistan would respond in the same way it had against India last year.

Addressing the National Assembly, Asif said: “If they are not ready, then what we did with Delhi, we will do the same with Kabul.” The minister asserted that Afghanistan had effectively become an instrument of Indian policy.

“At this time, Afghanistan has become India’s proxy,” he said, adding: “Kabul is fighting a Hindutva war against us,” and that “there is no difference between Delhi and Kabul at this time,” although Pakistan sincerely wished otherwise.

Asif said Pakistan had repeatedly attempted to engage Afghanistan through diplomatic channels, including via Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, but those efforts had failed to yield results. “In negotiations in Qatar, Afghanistan agreed to everything but later refused to give guarantees,” he said, adding that Kabul was willing to agree verbally but not in writing.

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He said Pakistan’s primary demand was a written commitment from Kabul ensuring that Afghan territory would not be used to launch attacks against Pakistan and that terrorists operating there would be expelled.

“The Kabul government is not willing to guarantee that its territory will not be used for attacks against Pakistan,” he said. “Afghanistan is not willing to expel terrorists from its territory. Afghanistan is not willing to stop terrorists either.”

The minister added that Pakistan remained open to talks if Kabul provided written assurances against terrorism.

Referring to a recent attack in Bannu, Asif said many people had been martyred and that the Pakistan Army continued to make sacrifices. “We are being forced into war because of this situation,” he said, adding that following India’s defeat last year, New Delhi was now acting through Afghanistan.

On the diplomatic front, Asif said backchannel efforts through a third country were still ongoing, though he declined to provide further details. “Talks are still ongoing through a third country, but I cannot say much at this stage,” he said.

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The defence minister also struck a cautiously optimistic note regarding domestic political alignment, saying the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, which had previously been uncooperative, was now on board.

“Earlier, we did not have the cooperation of the K-P government; now we do,” he said. “It is good that we are all on the same page that terrorism must end.” However, he warned that if Afghanistan remained unwilling to act, the situation could escalate further. “Then it will be a war — an open war,” he said.

Responding to a query from Asad Qaiser regarding military courts, Asif said the government would soon introduce legislation on the matter. He added that the right to appeal already existed and that several accused individuals had challenged military court verdicts. “Many have challenged the jurisdiction of military courts,” he said.

Regarding the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the minister acknowledged that the promised resources had yet to be provided. “The share due to former FATA is not only the responsibility of the federation; provinces must also contribute,” he said. As soon as the provinces agree, he added, the region would receive its due rights.