Pakistan’s sincerity in combating terrorism was questioned yet again on Wednesday when the President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani wondered how many terrorists Pakistan had eliminated.
“We (Afghanistan) have used force against the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). Their top leadership has been eliminated by use of force. Can they (Pakistani soldiers) point out how many of the Haqqani-network they have tackled How many of the Taliban ” the President asked.
“Pakistan is a revisionist state. Every one of its defeat is celebrated as its victory. And every single one of its intelligence failure as confirmation of conspiracy theories,” Mr Ghani said on a terse note.
The Afghan President was speaking at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Analysis in the national capital during his two-day official visit to India.
Citing an instance perhaps indicative of Pakistan turning a blind eye to the forces of terror, Mr Ghani said: “Our corps commander from the Helmand province went to Quetta (in Pakistan) to meet his counterpart. And our corps commander asked his counterpart: Would you like me to take you to the places from where the Taliban openly recruits The counterpart refused to do so that too in his own city.”
“We behave like a responsible state even though we are under attack. We have a constructive vision,’’ he said.
Referring to the lack of media coverage on the massive Pakistani army presence in Khyber Patunkhwa and Balochistan, he said: “We need to understand why a force of 207,000, which after 1898 is the greatest force assembled, is required there. My humble suggestion is use of force alone is not going to do it”.
Refusing to be drawn into making a statement on Baluchistan, he said federal provisions in Pakistan’s constitution should be adhered to and it should be up to the people to decide: “We do not support any movement outside our frontiers (But) force doesn’t hold people together.”
In a speech replete with references to philosophers like Weber and Durkhiem, the astute political theorist spoke on the shortcomings in the fight against terror, the lack of understanding of the true nature and duration of the menace. “We need to understand that we are not dealing with a one year or a two year phenomenon, it is not a passing through.”
Asked about reports that Pakistan is blocking the road route to Afghanistan via the Wagah border, Mr Ghani said both countries need not worry as there is air connectivity and efforts are on to increase that.
“Afghanistan is a landlocked country but it thinks openly. Pakistan has access to the sea but acts like a land locked nation”.
