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\u2022 Says Islamabad will continue to help neighbour jointly defeat terrorist groups ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thurs\u00adday reiterated Pakistan\u2019s desire to address the issue of terrorism with Afghan\u00adistan through dialogue and cooperation.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in an interview<\/a> published on Thursday, Defence Minis\u00adter Khawaja Asif told the Voice of America<\/em> that Islamabad does not want an armed conflict with its neighbouring country.<\/p>\n Speaking at the weekly FO briefing, Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: \u201cPakistan has repeatedly said that we prioritise dialogue and cooperation in finding solutions to issues of mutual concern and that is why Pakistan has been engaged in conversations and dialogue with Afghanistan to fight the threat that we face that is of terrorism that emanates from these groups which are currently based in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n She was responding to questions about Pakistan\u2019s air strikes<\/a> against Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group targets inside Afghanistan on Monday after militants based there carried out an attack<\/a> on a Frontier Corps camp on March 16.<\/p>\n Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban administration had res\u00adponded angrily to the air strikes and fired heavy weapons into Pakistan from across the border in retaliation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to engage with Afghanistan so that we are able to defeat these terror groups and the threat that they pose to Pakistan and the friendship between Pak\u00adistan and Afghanis\u00adtan,\u201d she further said, adding that \u201cThe channels of communication between the two countries remain open.\u201d<\/p>\n She recalled that a Pakistani proposal for jointly confronting terrorism has been on the negotiation table for some time. \u201cWe hope going forward, the two countries can work together to find joint solutions to combat terrorism,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Emphasising the importance of eliminating the terror groups threatening Pakistan\u2019s security, Baloch said, it was important that the two countries collaborate for the re\u00ad\u00admoval of \u201ca major issue\u201d weighing the relationship down.<\/p>\n The spokesperson, however, avoided ruling out the possibility of future strikes inside Afghanis\u00adtan. \u201cWe will only take any action in any direction, dialogue or otherwise, depending on the situation that arises,\u201d she maintained.<\/p>\n Baloch at the same time restated Pakistan\u2019s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 18th of March operation was not targeted against the government or institutions or the people of Afghanistan. It was a targeted operation against terrorist hideouts and sanctuaries,\u201d she stressed, saying that the strikes against Gul Bahadur sanctuaries were carried out after the group\u2019s involvement in the FC Camp attack was proven and with the realization that this group has not been effectively countered by the Afghan Taliban administration.<\/p>\n Ms Baloch hit back at the Afghan Taliban statement on the air strikes implying that Pakistan\u2019s Afghan policy was being run by the military \u201cgenerals\u201d noting that the action of March 18 was taken after concerted deliberations within the government and it had the full ownership of the country\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n Not looking for a fight<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking to VOA<\/em>, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: \u201cForce is the last resort. We do not want to have an armed conflict with Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n On March 18, Pakistan struck Afghanistan\u2019s Khost and Paktika provinces in \u201cintelligence-based anti-terrorist operations\u201d, which Afghan authorities said killed eight people.<\/p>\n Speaking about the air strikes, the defence minister said: \u201cA message needed to be sent that this [cross-border terrorism] has grown too much.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that Pakistan wanted to convey to the Afghan interim government in Kabul that \u201cwe cannot continue like this\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Asif warned that Islamabad could block the corridor it provided to Afghanistan for trade with India. He asserted that Pakistan had the right to stop facilitating Kabul if it failed to curb terrorists operating on Afghan soil against Pakistan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Afghanistan treats us like an enemy, then why should we give them a trade corridor?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Recalling the February 2023 visit to Kabul by a high-level delegation led by him, Mr Asif said he had told the Taliban ministers to not let the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan\u2019s past \u201cfavours\u201d tie Kabul\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they [TTP] have done you a favour and you\u2019re grateful to them, then control them. Don\u2019t let them start a war with us while living in your country, and you become their ally,\u201d VOA<\/em> quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they can harm us, then we\u2019ll be forced to [retaliate],\u201d the minister said, while expressing the hope that Afghanistan would meet the \u201csingle demand\u201d of reining in the TTP, hence preventing the need for future military strikes from Pakistan.<\/p>\n He said Kabul was letting the TTP operate against Pakistan in a bid to prevent its members from joining the militant Islamic State group\u2019s local chapter, known as the IS-Khorasan chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not necessary that the world must applaud us. What is in our interest is enough for us. We are protecting our interest, irrespective of whether someone applauds us or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2022 Says Islamabad will continue to help neighbour jointly defeat terrorist groups\u2022 Defence minister threatens to shut Afghanistan trade corridor if violence does not abate ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thurs\u00adday reiterated Pakistan\u2019s desire to address the issue of terrorism with Afghan\u00adistan through dialogue and cooperation. Meanwhile, in an interview published on Thursday, Defence Minis\u00adter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/03\/220815116f7dabb.png?r=081628","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022 Defence minister threatens to shut Afghanistan trade corridor if violence does not abate<\/strong><\/p>\n