Calling the goal of a “peaceful and stable Afghanistan” as Islamabad’s core national interest, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Friday said the world must not leave behind a “security vacuum” in Afghanistan since it would spell serious repercussions for Pakistan.
“What we want from the world, from the 49 nations operating in Afghanistan is that there is no security vacuum left behind,” she emphasized in a conversation hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, while referring to the 2014 NATO deadline for withdrawal of combat troops from neighboring Afghanistan.
The foreign minister categorically stated that Pakistan seeks no strategic depth in its landlocked western neighbor but said her country fears the fallout of Afghan unrest, if the security does not improve in the country.
Citing spillover of unrest from Afghanistan into Pakistan in the last three decades, Khar said Pakistan had to contend with the aftermath of Soviet pullout, after which the US-led allies abandoned the region.
“We are, of course, very very concerned about the state —- because we know the entry goals in Afghanistan were very very different than what is appearing to be now,” she said at the discussion, anchored by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.The top Pakistani diplomat also strongly defended her country’s anti-terror performance and said under the democratic government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, Islamabad has made it clear that the fight against militancy is its own fight.
Ms Khar pointed out to the gathering that many of the challenges Pakistan today faces are rooted in historical events.
“As we look to challenges, we face within the region, Pakistan has grave concerns about what is going to happen in the future.” “It is not ambition but anxiety which drives our interest in Afghanistan. We have no favourites in terms of ethnicity—- Pakistan is on a track to develop relations with Afghanistan as a sovereign equal,” the foreign minister said.
Islamabad, she said, fears for instability in Afghanistan, because instability from Afghanistan permeates through 2000 km border directly into Pakistan’s territory as it has in the last three decades.
Ms Khar underscored her point by informing the gathering that as much as 53 000 people cross Pak-Afghan border everyday. “We seek no strategic depth in Afghanistan,” she declared categorically.
“What we seek relations with is a peaceful, stable Afghanistan, a sovereign and independent Afghanistan.”
“We have no intentions nor any national interest to impose any type of government in Afghanistan. It is for the Afghans to do so,” the foreign minister declared.
“It is important that we are able to unload the past and move into the future. Because I fear that if we are not able to that we will see ourselves inadvertently repeating the same mistake.
Ms Khar drew the American intelligentsia’s attention to Pakistan’s unparalleled sacrifices in the fight against terror.
She also referred to the recent the incidents of green-on–blue attacks by Afghan forces in Afghanistan and the decision not to go through joint training, terming them as “huge concerns” for Pakistan.
“These are huge concerns because we will not be able to change our location.
We will not be able to change our geography. We must make sure that the security situation in Afghanistan is good enough for us to be able to build a peaceful and stable neighborhood.”
She also noted that militants using the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan have stormed into Pakistani territory in hundreds attacked the security forces inside Pakistani territory. In one incident, the militants infiltrating from Afghanistan slaughtered 17 Pakistani soldiers.
“All of these are not signs that inspire a lot of confidence in the security situation in Afghanistan and we fear that through the long border we will have to face more challenges in the future. “
World must not leave behind ‘security vacuum’ in Afghanistan: Khar
