Pakistani PM: The Talk about Our Support for Taliban Is Indian Propaganda

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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the talk about his country's support for the Taliban movement is "illogical and baseless Indian propaganda."

In a televised interview, Khan noted that if Pakistan aided the Taliban to win over the United States, then Pakistan would be considered more powerful than both the latter and its European allies. 

Two propaganda promoters; former Afghan government and India

Khan talked about the parties behind this "propaganda", blaming it on the former Afghan government that he believed played a huge role in spreading the propaganda to cover up its officials' "corruption" and "incompetence" to govern the country.

Moreover, he considered that India is the other factor behind the propaganda, stressing that it has invested a lot in Ashraf Ghani's government.

Supporting an insurgency is not possible for Pakistan

Khan stressed that this propaganda is baseless and has no logic, noting that his country, which spends a comprehensive budget worth about $500 billion for 220 million people, does not have the capabilities to support an insurgency in Afghanistan against the United States of America that spent two or three trillion dollars therein over 20 years.

The Pakistani Prime Minister asked: "How can the Afghan Army of 300,000, trained by America, not fight the Taliban? Did Pakistan ask it not to fight?"

The Afghan government should be all-inclusive

In response to a question about his country's stance from the Taliban government, Khan stressed that Pakistan is part of the international community and that the recognition of Afghanistan is important for everyone and for the Taliban government, pointing out that his country is working with all Afghanistan's neighbors to develop a policy that determines what the Taliban government should do to earn recognition.

The Pakistani Prime Minister emphasized that the most important point to be considered by the Taliban is to form an all-inclusive government because Afghanistan is a pluralistic and diverse community. The Pashtun make up half of Afghanistan's population, and then there are the Tajiks as well and others. He stressed that the new government should be a comprehensive, inclusive government that makes every effort to unite Afghanistan. This is our position, and this is what we have been discussing with our friends and Afghanistan's neighboring countries. 

Taliban's desire to join the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor project welcomed

A few days ago, Pakistan welcomed the Taliban's desire to join the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor project, which aims to establish a land road with a network of paths and railways, linking the city of Kashgar, to western China and the Pakistani port of Gwadar. This is considered one of the main projects of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Last month, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made an international tour that included 4 countries in the region to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and to strengthen bilateral relations.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry had announced, earlier, that its country stood at the sidelines when it came to Afghanistan, stressing that it "will not bear the mistakes of others in Afghanistan, whether they are internal or foreign parties."