ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has urged the international community to learn from its past mistakes and engage with the Taliban in order to avoid a humanitarian and refugee crisis in Afghanistan.
In the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after 20 years of war, the national security advisor, Moeed Yusuf, said the international community should not create a security vacuum by “abandoning” the ordinary people of Afghanistan.
“Another humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was not inevitable, but only if the international community learn from the mistakes of the past and do not create a security vacuum by abandoning ordinary Afghans,” Yusuf told Gulf News.
The official observed the on-ground reality is that the Taliban are in control but said: “We must keep them honest to their promises, but engage for the sake of the average Afghans. Otherwise, we will end up in the same place. It wasn’t well last time.”
“Pakistan’s engagement with the Taliban is not unlike the world’s engagement with them. Being a neighbouring country, Pakistan has a great stake in Afghanistan and is investing its efforts for durable peace.
At this point, Pakistan’s leverage is really the same as any other major country: assistance and recognition in return for coming through on the commitments made to the international community,” Yusuf said.
“In fact, one could argue that the Western powers that offer legitimacy through recognition and financial assistance have greater leverage,” he pointed out.
He observed that peace and stability in Afghanistan will “fundamentally benefit the people of Afghanistan who have suffered for the last four decades”. “As a neighbour, Pakistan has had to deal with the negative fallout of the Afghan war. Pakistan has been a victim of a war in Afghanistan that was not of our making. We joined the United States’ war against terrorism and suffered the blowback,” he lamented.
“No other country has contributed as much or suffered as much as Pakistan has due to the two-decade-long war.
The world must recognise this instead of asking us to “do more” and looking to use Pakistan as a scapegoat. The fact is Pakistan has already done “too much”. The failures in Afghanistan were colossal and internal, as the events of the past month have confirmed.”
