Title: NSA says won't attend Afghanistan moot in India
Share:
Linkedin
Whatsapp
Facebook
Description:
National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf on Tuesday said that he will not travel to India to attend a conference on Afghanistan being hosted by New Delhi on November 10.
In a response to a question during a press conference, Yusuf said that a "spoiler" could not take on the role of a "peacemaker".
India had extended the invitation to Moeed to attend the regional conference. Russia, China, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan will reportedly attend the moot hosted by the Indian national security adviser.
While India was not invited at the conference hosted by Pakistan in September and Iran in October, New Delhi was part of the Moscow Format.
India’s effort to host the regional conference is seen as an attempt to deflect domestic pressure and the impression that New Delhi has been left out of Afghan consultations.
At a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said that India seemed to be trying to find “some relevance” in the context of Afghanistan while referring to the upcoming conference in New Delhi.
LIVE #APPNews : Dr. Moeed Yusuf, National Security Adviser (NSA) addressing News Conference #Islamabad https://t.co/xIZ1KjVH4Q
— APP ???????? (@appcsocialmedia) November 2, 2021
Moeed said Pakistan and Uzbekistan shared the same stance on Afghanistan, adding that there was a need to coordinate on Afghanistan for the sake of the Afghan people.
He said there was a need for constructive engagement with the Taliban regime in Kabul to avert a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country. “The world’s failure to engage with Kabul would result in a humanitarian crisis,” he added.
According to Moeed, for the past four decades, there was a war in Afghanistan that had “directly hurt” Pakistan as well. “The war in Afghanistan resulted in the loss of 80,000 Pakistan lives and damages worth $150 billion to the economy,” he said, adding the civil war in Afghanistan affected Pakistan gravely.
“It is not a political matter for Pakistan, but an issue of national security and humanitarian concern,” the security adviser added and further said Pakistan has no option but to engage with Afghanistan and it wanted the world to support the Kabul regime to facilitate common Afghan citizens.
Speaking about the establishment of the Joint Security Commission, the security adviser said the mechanism would help curb transnational crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. This will also help in capacity building, he added.
Moeed added that Pakistan already has MoUs signed with Uzbekisation on military education and defence cooperation which would be further improved under the new mechanism and adding that the National Security Division would be the main coordinator.
The NSA further said the head of the Uzbek delegation, Lt. Gen. Victor Makhmudov, will also meet PM Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. The Uzbek NSA will also visit Torkhum and Military Academy, Kakul, he added.
Moeed elaborated that Pakistan is focused on geo-economic vision, adding that the location of Pakistan was very important in the geo-economics paradigm. He said Pakistan was unable to engage with the Central Asian States in the past, but these states, particularly Uzbekistan, were crucial to fulfilling Pakistan’s geo-economic vision.
He maintained that Central Asia was a priority for Pakistan, adding that Pakistan will engage with the Central Asian States via bilateral and multilateral agreements.
The NSA further said the region should be concerned about the way India is behaving as this would damage regional cohesion.
Published Date: 02-Nov-2021
Share:
Linkedin
Whatsapp
Facebook
