Khawaja Asif warns Taliban government of ‘war’ over cross-border militancy

ISLAMABAD: Khawaja Asif on Wednesday warned Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government against continued support for militants, saying Pakistan would respond to Kabul in the same way it had responded to India.

Addressing the National Assembly of Pakistan, the defence minister said there was “no difference between Delhi and Kabul”, alleging that the “same enemy” was currently present on both Pakistan’s eastern and western borders.

Khawaja Asif claimed that the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan had become a “proxy” of India and was unwilling to provide Pakistan with concrete assurances regarding cross-border terrorism.

“Kabul is not giving us any guarantee to stop terrorism,” the minister said, adding that Afghan authorities had only made verbal commitments and were not prepared to provide written assurances.

“If they do not stop backing terrorists, then there will be war,” he warned.

The defence minister said Pakistan had attempted to resolve the issue through diplomatic engagement involving Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

“We tried very hard to make them understand with the support of three countries,” Asif said while referring to efforts aimed at easing tensions with the Taliban administration.

During his speech, the minister also said the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had not cooperated with the federal government for a long period in addressing security challenges, though he added that coordination had recently improved.

Opposition lawmakers interrupted the proceedings and raised slogans as Asif praised the sacrifices of Pakistan’s armed forces.

“Our armed forces are giving unconditional sacrifices,” he said, adding that every citizen sacrificing their life at the border represented Pakistan’s identity.

Read More: PTI’s Salman Akram Raja claims Imran Khan lost vision

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated in recent years, with Islamabad repeatedly urging the Taliban administration to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Pakistan has maintained that it would not compromise on the safety and security of its citizens and has consistently called on the Afghan Taliban government to take effective action against militant outfits operating from its soil.

Previous mediation efforts by Türkiye and Qatar had briefly reduced tensions between Islamabad and Kabul last year but failed to secure a lasting agreement between the two sides.