Bilawal issues a warning to the west about the implications of Afghan terror spillover.
At Munich summit, FM pushes capacity building of temporary govt.
ISLAMABAD: On Saturday, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pleaded with the international community to support the development of the Afghan interim government’s capacity to deal with terrorist threats.
Participating in a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference was the foreign minister.
He asserted that the international community expected the Afghan interim government to uphold its commitments and obligations in areas like women’s rights, inclusive governance, and the management of potential terrorism threats from terrorist organisations like Daesh, TTP, and al Qaeda.
The minister warned that, if the problem was not taken seriously, terrorist organisations could operate out of Afghanistan, as had recently been seen in incidents in Pakistan.
He believed that the interim government lacked the capacity to maintain a standing army, a counterterrorism force, or even a border force.
According to Bilawal, the international community should persuade the Afghan interim government to confront the threat of terrorism and show its resolve.
He warned that terrorism not only posed a threat to Afghanistan’s close neighbours, but also to the West.
He added that Pakistan had hosted the most Afghan refugees on its soil and would continue to do so as a result, and that the international community could not wash its hands of Afghanistan and turn a blind eye.
He emphasised that the international community should keep providing humanitarian aid, unfreeze Afghan assets, reopen the country’s banking system, and engage with the Taliban, society, and women.
The international community must play its part in promoting peace in Afghanistan, the foreign minister reaffirmed, if the region is to remain stable.
He added that the Afghan interim administration had pledged to rid the country of terrorism.
The foreign minister went on to explain that peace and stability in war-weary Afghanistan depended on the economy continuing to grow and progress, which would also assist the country’s interim leaders in managing affairs.
