Kabul, a tool for Delhi, said Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, accusing it of terrorism in his country. Asif warned of “50 times stronger” response in case Kabul attacks Islamabad. Asif made these strong remarks while speaking on Geo News’ primetime show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’ where he called out Afghan negotiators of taking a step back from the peace deal time and again. The remarks came after peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul dramatically collapsed.
“Whenever we got close to an agreement – either in the last four days or last week – when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was withdrawn,” Asif outlined, as reported by Dawn.
“I believe that the negotiations were sabotaged. We had an agreement, but then they called Kabul and backpedaled from the deal.”
Pakistan Defence Minister complimented the Afghan negotiators for cooperating and giving a hard negotiation which was “quite testing” but at the same time brought Delhi into the picture, accusing it of controlling Kabul and staging a proxy war against Islamabad.
“I would compliment their delegation, but the people in Kabul pulling the strings and staging the puppet show are being controlled by Delhi,” he added.
“India is compensating for its defeat on their western border through Kabul. The junta there (in Afghanistan) has elements that have visited India and visited their temples,” Asif said. “India wants to engage in a low-intensity war with Pakistan. To achieve this, they are using Kabul.”
Further talking about Afghanistan’s threats and a possible attack on Islamabad, Asif accused Kabul and New Delhi of being hand in glove and warned of stronger response.
“If Afghanistan even looks at Islamabad, we will gouge their eyes out.
“They can employ the use of terrorists and they already are. Over the past four years, they have been using terrorists,” he added.
“There should be no doubt that Kabul is responsible for the terrorism in Pakistan. Kabul is a tool for Delhi. If they want to, God forbid, attack Islamabad, we will give a befitting response. A response 50 times stronger,” the defence minister said.
Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Talks
Pakistan and Afghanistan on Saturday (October 25) began the second round of peace talks in Istanbul while Asif warned of engaging in open war in case the talks fail. The peace talks led by mediators from Qatar and Turkey did collapse.
The immediate trigger appears to have been Pakistan’s admission, for the first time publicly, that it has an agreement with the United States permitting drone operations from its territory. Pakistani officials reportedly insisted that this pact “cannot be broken”, a statement that provoked outrage from the Afghan side, which demanded assurances that Pakistan would not allow US drones to violate Afghan airspace.
Afghan sources have warned that any future Pakistani strikes will be met with “reciprocal action”, stating that if Afghan territory is bombed, “Islamabad will be targeted.”