- State of Pakistan cannot fight an ‘indefinite’ war with TTP: says Fawad
- We want to give chance to those who express their allegiance to the country’s Constitution, says info minister
ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday went too far in justifying the government’s dialogue with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying that the state of Pakistan cannot fight an ‘indefinite’ war with the banned outfit.
“The government wanted to give “its citizens a chance if they respect Constitution of Pakistan and its legal framework. Ultimately, the wars are fought in order to bring back peace. You have to conclude wars. So our point of view is that Pakistan must talk from the position of strength and we believe that after this change in Afghanistan [we are in position of strength] and even the authorities in Afghanistan want us to negotiate and make a deal with TTP,” Fawad said while addressing a press conference following a federal cabinet meeting here.
“States do not fight a perpetual war. We want to give chance to those who express their allegiance to the Constitution of Pakistan and respect Pakistan’s legal framework.”
Information Minister said that the government of Pakistan believed that the authorities in Afghanistan wanted peace in Pakistan.
He said that the ongoing talks with the TTP would be under the purview of the Constitution of Pakistan, adding that all the groups that the government was engaged with would have to respect the Constitution.
“We believe that there are certain groups [in TTP]. There are ideologues, there are people who have legitimate grievances. There are people who took this course on compulsion but all of them are Pakistanis so the state of Pakistan wants to give its citizens a chance. If all of them, some of them or part of them want to come back, then they have to express their allegiance to the Constitution of Pakistan. They undertake to respect the law of Pakistan then obviously we will give them a chance.”
Fawad said locals and those who were affected by the insurgency in the affected areas will be made part of the negotiation process. “20 years have passed [since the start of war]… an entirely new generation has formed and they are not responsible for the actions of their fathers, grandfathers or big brothers,” he added.
He said that even the TTP issued a proclamation in which they announced a ceasefire yesterday.
‘Pakistan to recognise Afghan govt after regional countries’
Answering a question, the minister said that Pakistan wanted an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
“We will recognise the Taliban-led government after it is recognised by the regional countries.”
Humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan
Fawad urged the global community, especially Muslim Ummah, to rally support for averting the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
He said that a formal approval to set up a special fund for the support of Afghan people in turbulent times was also given in today’s cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He said that the initiative would definitely enable the people of Pakistan to extend direct help to their Afghan brethren as the government wanted uninterrupted humanitarian efforts for the war-ravaged country.
The minister said that Pakistan was planning to host a conference of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) next month to discuss ways and means for extending maximum support to Afghanistan at this critical juncture.
“We believe what is going on in Afghanistan is catastrophic; we have been trying our best, and did our best to convey our concerns to the world and we are willing to take all actions whatever we can to help people of Afghanistan,” he remarked.
Pakistan was working closely with the interim government in Afghanistan, he said, adding that a visit of the interim Afghan foreign minister to Islamabad was due tomorrow during which efforts for humanitarian assistance would be discussed at length to avert any catastrophic situation in Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan had already warned that the situation in Afghanistan was becoming more grave by every day and added that Afghans would be the ultimate sufferers.
Citing a recent report in The Economist, he said: “Afghanistan was on the brink of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the UN said on October 25 that it would even exceed the misery in Syria and Yemen.”
The international journal also quoted a new report from the UN agencies in its story estimating that some 23 million, out of the country’s 38 million people, would not have enough food to get through the winter unless aid was rapidly scaled up.
Fawad said that before fall of Kabul in August, per capita daily income was $1.9 which according to UN estimates would be halved by June next year.
‘Afghans cannot be left at mercy of circumstances’
He said that gravity of the situation could be judged by the fact that eight children had died due to starvation amid troubling reports that people were forced to sell their minor children for getting wheat and rice. “The Afghan people could not be left at the mercy of the circumstances,” he added.
He said that the cabinet had decided that the country would dispatch a sufficient amount of wheat and rice to Afghanistan to save its people from starvation in winter. “Measures are being taken so that exports from Afghanistan can be eased out. We have slashed all taxes on exports from Afghanistan,” he added.
The information minister said that the reason behind the situation was that foreign assets of Afghanistan’s government had been frozen, while the entire aid was suspended and the whole economy of the neighbouring country had been squeezed.
About the other decisions of the federal cabinet, the minister said that the prime minister had directed the members to ensure presence in the joint session of the Parliament as legislation of electoral reforms and other issues were on the cards.
Keeping in view the spike in oil and gas prices at international market and illegal use of the gas in some sectors, he said the federal cabinet had increased gas prices for captive power plants to $9 per MBTU (Million British Thermal Unit) from $6.5 per MBTU. Likewise, the RLNG rate for different units of the exports sector units will remain unchanged ($6.5 per MBTU).
The prices would come into effect on November 15, 2021, and would remain intact till March 31, 2022, he added.
‘Cheapest gas in the world’
He said some sectors were misusing the subsidy on gas to produce electricity which was already excessive in the country. The initiative was taken to remove that specific anomaly.
There has been a worldwide crisis of gas, he said while citing examples of the United Kingdom where the commodity prices had witnessed a marked increase.
To avoid misuse of the scheme, the government had decided to take the subsidy back from the industrial sector till March 31, 2022, as the gas crisis was likely to ease after March.
He clarified that this had nothing to do with domestic consumers. Only 27 per cent domestic consumers used local gas while 77 per cent of them relied on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Those 27 per cent were getting a major subsidy at the expense of the 77 per cent.
“The 77 per cent of the population were paying for the gas which was being used in the cities at the cheapest rate in the world,” he added.
“Whenever we talk about the 77 per cent population, the media starts creating hype over increase in the gas prices. The oil and gas [prices] are connected with the international market and the country will not uplift if we continue to give subsidies on different commodities to a certain portion of the population”, he added.
He said sensational reporting had somewhat become a norm which eventually hurt the market sentiment. “This issue does not damage us but also the country… we will resolve this soon.”
Fawad said that it has been decided that Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin would head the committee on wheat and sugar exports.
The cabinet, he said, had given the approval to export wheat to Afghanistan under the World Food Programme, keeping in view the emergency situation in the country.
The information minister said that the cabinet has given a six-month extension to Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement 2010.
The new Director General of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency has also been appointed, he added.
