Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday expressed lack of confidence in the 48-hour ceasefire agreed between Pakistan and Afghanistan as the latter has become a “proxy of Delhi”.
Today’s fighting was the third major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan in a week, following last night’s incident in Kurram and earlier skirmishes that began on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning at several locations.
speaking in Geographic news On Wednesday night’s ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’ show, the Defense Minister said the Afghan Taliban is “fighting a proxy war” on behalf of India and claimed that they have become a “puppet” of New Delhi.
“I have my doubts that the ceasefire will hold, because the [Afghan] “The Taliban is sponsored by Delhi,” he added. “Right now, Kabul is fighting a proxy war on behalf of Delhi.”
Asif reaffirmed Pakistan’s willingness and ability to defend itself against new aggression from Kabul.
“We have the capacity and we will attack them, God willing, if they escalate or expand the radius of this war,” he said. “There have been deep strikes in Afghanistan and a ceasefire was agreed upon after friendly countries intervened, but it is fragile. I don’t think it will last long.”
However, Asif added that in this situation, Pakistan will respond positively to any constructive dialogue but will not tolerate ceasefire violations or attacks on its territory.
“If they bomb our border areas or attack our posts, then we have to respond in the same way,” he explained. “We don’t want to fight, but if they attack us, we have the right to respond.”
The Defense Minister also stated that the situation on the Afghan border is in line with the FO statement on a ceasefire, but spoke of the misinformation that has emerged in Afghanistan following today’s clashes.
“I support the 48-hour ceasefire, but there has been a wave of lies coming from Kabul,” he said. “They are showing videos claiming that they have captured a Pakistani tank; we do not have such tanks in our inventory. They probably bought it from some scrap metal dealer.”
When asked about the role of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Asif did not provide specific details, but said Pakistan “has the right and capability to bomb or attack any part of Afghanistan.”
Asked whether the mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia could come into play here, the minister said friendly countries “will intervene effectively,” but noted that this is speculation at the moment.
Islamabad has repeatedly called on Kabul to prohibit terrorist groups from using its territory to attack Pakistan; However, Afghanistan denies the allegations and claims that Afghan soil is not used for attacks against neighboring countries.
The issue of terrorists using Afghan soil against Pakistan has long strained ties between the two countries and ties appear to have taken a nosedive with the recent surge in border hostilities.
