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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the United States was in a state of “shock and confusion” after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the US government will have to “sooner or later” recognize the Taliban, who now rule Afghanistan.
In a television interview with Turkish state-affiliated TRT World, Khan said on Saturday that the United States was in a state of “shock and confusion” after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15. .
Khan also said the American public is currently looking for a scapegoat and “unfairly targeting” US President Joe Biden.
Critics said the West-backed government collapsed following Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. Despite intense pressure, Biden met the August 31 deadline to withdraw his troops, ending America’s longest war.
The withdrawal of American troops was part of an agreement with the Taliban signed under former President Donald Trump in 2020. The agreement signed in the Qatari capital Doha also called on the Taliban not to allow armed groups like al-Qaeda in use Afghan soil to carry out attacks against the United States and its allies.
But the spectacular military takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban prompted the United States and international financial institutions to sever ties with the country. The assets of the Afghan central bank worth more than $ 9 billion are frozen by the United States, triggering a liquidity crisis.
“Unfreeze the Afghan reserves”
The Pakistani Prime Minister stressed that if the United States does not release the Afghan reserves, the country could face a “chaotic situation” and that the United States must find a solution.
Pakistan, a neighbor of Afghanistan, fears that an economic and humanitarian crisis could have a ripple effect on it. It already hosts nearly 3.5 million Afghan refugees.
Islamabad is considered to have strong ties to the Taliban, many of whose leaders remained in Pakistan during the 20-year war against the US occupation. Khan’s government called on Western governments to deal with the Taliban.
When asked if Khan was “pro-Taliban” he replied that he was “anti-military solutions” and that the only way to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan is through peaceful means.
Khan went on to say that Pakistan on its own recognizing the Taliban would “not make much of a difference,” but joint recognition of regional powers and neighbors would be a better solution.
During the interview, Khan revealed that his government is currently in peace talks with some of the groups within the Pakistani Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, and he further revealed that the talks are taking place in Afghanistan and if reconciliation is achieved, members of the organization would be “forgiven”.
The Pakistani prime minister said that concern over human rights violations should not be “selective” within the international community and that the lockdown of Indian-administered Kashmir by the Indian military should also be addressed.
He pointed out that Afghanistan is currently going through a historic milestone and is moving either towards stability after wars that have lasted four decades or in the wrong direction, chaos and a huge humanitarian and refugee crisis that will affect all of its neighbors. Afghanistan.
In response to the question about relations between Pakistan and the United States, Khan said the two countries were in constant contact.
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