Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday acknowledged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was standing firmly with the Centre in combatting terrorism, hailing that they were on the \u201csame page\u201d.<\/p>\n
He made the remarks on the floor of the National Assembly while responding to an emotionally charged speech by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl\u2019s (JUI-F) Noor Alam Khan, who had criticised both the federal and provincial governments for rising terrorism in the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did not have the KP government\u2019s cooperation for a very long time, [but] now we have [it]. They are standing firmly with the Centre and the armed forces against terrorism. There is no doubt,\u201d Asif declared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a good thing that we are all on the same page,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The defence minister said, \u201cI agree with them that a solution to this issue is needed, but it is not the centre\u2019s responsibility; it is partially, but all provinces have to contribute to this with their resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asif also strongly responded to suggestions that Islamabad hold a dialogue with Kabul, highlighting that Pakistan had already done so multiple times but to no avail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done so. I did three rounds myself,\u201d he said, recalling his 2023 visit<\/a> to Kabul and the meetings held in Turkiye<\/a> and Qatar<\/a> last year between the two sides.<\/p>\n The minister pointed out that Pakistan engaged in talks with the Afghan Taliban government while terrorism was ongoing in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cQatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia played a role but no solution came out of it,\u201d he stated. \u201cThe Kabul government is not ready to give us a guarantee that no attacks will be carried out against Pakistan from their soil.\u201d<\/p>\n Asif affirmed that the Centre stood with the KP government, noting the sacrifices rendered by the soldiers, including the recent attack<\/a> on a police post in Bannu that claimed the lives of \u201c22 people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOur loss is a common loss,\u201d he said, observing that KP and Balochistan witnessed more terrorist attacks since they shared the border with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have made all possible efforts. You cannot even imagine,\u201d he asserted, recalling that talks as long as 19 hours have been held with Kabul.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are ready to verbally agree, but not in writing,\u201d Asif added.<\/p>\n During his remarks, Asif reiterated Islamabad\u2019s stance that the Kabul authorities were acting as a \u201cproxy of India\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter India\u2019s defeat in Marka-i-Haq<\/em> last year, thanks to God, they would not even dare to enter into a direct confrontation with us. So, the entire war now is being fought with Pakistan through Kabul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asif stressed, \u201cTheir proxies were carrying out terrorism on our soil and terrorist activities were taking place here because of their facilitation. Despite that, we spoke to them, but no result came of it.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, there may be efforts underway for some communication through some third country. I cannot say anything conclusive about it.\u201d<\/p>\n The minister emphasised, \u201cWe have tried fully with sincerity. We have negotiated via three countries, not just one, [\u2026] we pleaded with them to stop supporting them (terrorists) and their facilitation, and abandon their bases and camps, but they do not come to it.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there remains only one alternative to this [\u2026] there will be open war then,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n The defence minister said Afghanistan was \u201cfighting the Hindutva\u2019s war against us\u201d, terming the Afghan Taliban a \u201cproxy of the Hindutva\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it is the eastern border or the western, the enemy is the same. There is no difference between Delhi and Kabul at the moment,\u201d Asif remarked.<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWe surely do wish that there was a difference, that they speak with us and enter into some kind of arrangement so that this terrorism can be stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if they are not ready, then we will do to Kabul what we have done to Delhi,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n Asif\u2019s remarks come days after Islamabad issued a \u201cstrong demarche\u201d to Afghanistan over the May 10 suicide attack in Bannu, which claimed the lives of 15 police personnel<\/a>.<\/p>\n There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned<\/u><\/a> to power in Kabul in 2021.<\/p>\n Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned Tehreek\u2014i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.<\/p>\n In the latest communication between Islamabad and Kabul, the two sides held talks<\/u><\/a> in China\u2019s Urumqi last month and agreed<\/a> to avoid any escalation in their armed conflict.<\/p>\n In his remarks, Alam had decried that the people of KP were living a miserable life because of regular terrorist activities.<\/p>\n He claimed that when the people of KP tried to escape their homes, they were mistreated by the Punjab police and were seen as criminals even if they had families with them.<\/p>\n Alam had also criticised the PTI-run KP government, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, the PML-N\u2019s Punjab government and the Centre for not doing enough to protect the lives of KP\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n Asif contended that JUI-F\u2019s Alam was only talking about divisions on ethnic lines.<\/p>\n Responding to Alam, Asif contended that the JUI-F lawmaker was only talking about divisions on ethnic lines.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you always talk about one nationality and on ethnic lines?\u201d Asif said, highlighting that the entire nation was rendering sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.<\/p>\n However, his comments were met with strong reactions from Alam and PTI\u2019s Iqbal Afridi and Junaid Akbar, who stood up and used harsh words against Asif for derailing the core discussion.<\/p>\n Afridi, demanding time to speak over power issues, became furious and began hurling abuses at Speaker Ayaz Sadiq as well as Asif.<\/p>\n He even engaged in a physical exchange with other PTI MNAs, and eventually, most of the opposition lawmakers were trying to stop each other from fighting.<\/p>\n Amid the chaotic situation, Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah gave the mic to PPP\u2019s Sharmila Faruqui, but as the PTI members started yelling at each other in abusive language, the deputy speaker adjourned the session.<\/p>\n Even then, Afridi and his party colleague Saleem Rehman tried to approach each other aggressively, prompting the Sergeants at Arms to be called in.<\/p>\n JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Haideri reached the mayhem as well as tensions rose, with Afridi, Akbar and Rehman being escorted away by fellow PTI lawmakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday acknowledged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was standing firmly with the Centre in combatting terrorism, hailing that they were on the \u201csame page\u201d. He made the remarks on the floor of the National Assembly while responding to an emotionally charged speech by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl\u2019s (JUI-F) Noor Alam Khan, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>\u2018Afghanistan fighting Hindutva\u2019s war\u2019<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Alam\u2019s comments and PTI spat<\/h2>\n