Pakistan distances itself from the United States and assures that the Taliban are a peace option | International

Pakistan, the country that hosts the most Afghan refugees and one of the states that has historically given the most coverage to the Taliban, is stepping on the gas as a regional power to prop up the new government in Kabul. Prime Minister Imran Khan has come to the fore just a month after the fall of Kabul to charge the United States for the management carried out in the last two decades. Pakistan, the country in which Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda, hid until US troops killed him in 2011, feels like a victim and has become insecure for having accompanied Washington, says Khan in an interview with the network. CNN.

The former captain of the national cricket team, 68, says he would never have embarked with the United States in the war at the hands of the United States. “We hope and pray for peace after 40 years” in Afghanistan, he says now. In these days he has spoken with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but has not had contact with the American, Joe Biden.

He also believes that it is a “fallacy” to try to run the country from abroad and calls for international support so that the Taliban gain legitimacy and can face the humanitarian crisis. With regard to women, Khan prefers not to be pressured by the international community because the Afghans are “strong” and understands that they will achieve their rights for themselves under the executive of the Islamist militia.

“Afghanistan cannot be controlled from the outside. They have a history. No puppet government in Afghanistan has the support of the people, “Imran Khan told the US network on Wednesday. “Instead of controlling them, we should encourage them,” he commented on the Taliban, referring to the necessary support from the international community for the country to emerge from the crisis.

As for a possible massive arrival of refugees, he assures that Islamabad cannot host more. There is a daily trickle, however, of people who manage to leave the border crossings in small groups, according to the testimonies collected. Many are in different parts of the country and fear being located by the authorities and returned to the other side.

The arrivals in recent weeks are added to those that have been installed in the last four decades in which Afghanistan has not known stability. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, officially there are 1.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and many are already second and third generation. The prime minister raises that figure – including those who reside without documentation that makes their status official – to three million.

Imran Khan, who took office in 2018, threw balls out when asked about Afghan women’s rights. “It is a mistake to think that someone is going to bring Afghan women’s rights from outside. Afghan women are strong. We are going to give them time and they will obtain those rights ”, he replied. The Taliban, “in their context,” have said they want rights for women, the president stressed.

With Putin, yes; with biden, no

The prime minister granted the interview the day after having agreed by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to cooperate to stabilize Afghanistan. Just a day earlier, on Monday, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, asked Islamabad not to recognize the new Kabul government until it meets what the international community demands.

Khan says US President Joe Biden is a “busy man” and has not spoken to him since the fall of Kabul. He added that Pakistan would never have embarked on war twenty years ago at Washington’s hand if he had been prime minister because the price they have paid is now having “50 militant groups attacking us.” And he has reminded the Biden Administration that the US has carried out 480 drone strikes on Pakistani territory. “Despite everything, we want normal relations with the United States,” he concluded.

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