Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said the federal government was left with no option but to impose an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, describing it a “tough decision”. Ishaq Dar said protests and sit-in caused significant damage to the national economy.
Ishaq Dar warned that the Afghan Taliban regime will eventually face consequences if it fails to take action against terrorists operating from its territory.
“If the Afghan government does not take action against terrorists, one day it will have to face the consequences itself,” Ishaq Dar said while addressing the ISSI International Conference on “Pakistan’s evolving terrorism landscape” in Islamabad.
Addressing the conference, Ishaq Dar said that terrorism remained the biggest challenge for the region and the world, adding that Pakistan had made immense sacrifices in its fight against militancy. “Pakistan has sacrificed more than 90,000 lives in the war against terrorism,” he said, calling on the international community to acknowledge the country’s losses.
He also referred to the Jaffar Express incident and the abduction and killings of workers in Balochistan, citing them among the challenges facing the country.
According to Ishaq Dar, operations against terrorists were being conducted daily on the instructions of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan had repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities not to allow their territory to be used for terrorism against neighbouring countries. “Pakistan has only one demand from Afghanistan: that it should not allow its territory to be used for terrorism,” he added.
Pakistan had held talks with Afghan officials on the issue and had undertaken visits to Afghanistan to discuss counterterrorism efforts, he said, referring to a trilateral meeting involving Pakistan, China and Afghanistan held in Kabul in August last year. However, he said that the Afghan Taliban regime had failed to fulfil its commitments on the issue of terrorism.
He warned that the presence of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups in Afghanistan posed a threat to regional peace.
He urged the Afghan Taliban authorities to immediately stop providing terrorists with weapons and other forms of assistance.
Ishaq Dar said that India was involved in supporting terrorism in Pakistan, referring to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad says was a serving Indian naval officer involved in espionage, sabotage and terrorist activities.
He said that security forces and law enforcement agencies had confronted terrorism with determination, but the threat had damaged the country’s image and international reputation.
The deputy prime minister also called for international cooperation to strengthen the capacity of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies, saying that recognition of the country’s sacrifices alone was not sufficient.
He said that militants crossed into Pakistan through mountainous areas to carry out attacks before returning to safe havens, adding that a serious increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan had led to the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Ishaq Dar added that Pakistan had subsequently allowed 1,000 containers to pass into Afghanistan following contact from the United Nations.
Describing the banned TTP as a serious threat to Pakistan’s security, he said that the terrorist groups received external support. He warned that safe havens used by groups to launch attacks against Pakistan could eventually pose a threat to other countries as well.
He noted Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism through implementation of the National Action Plan, Azm-e-Istehkam and improved intelligence coordination. He also outlined Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to advance bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism cooperation.
He lauded Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif’s leadership in this fight and paid tribute to the armed forces under Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and law enforcement agencies for their courage and sacrifices.