Hamid Karzai slams Pak propaganda, asks Imran Khan to 'not interfere in Afghan affairs'

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday evening slammed Pakistan PM Imran Khan and called out what he said was “obvious propaganda against Afghanistan”. In his speech at the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), Khan had said that Pakistan faced threat from Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan, adding that stability in the war-ravaged nation is necessary. “We have had attacks from (the) Afghan border, from ISIL, into Pakistan,” Pak PM said while addressing the ​​17th extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC. 

In response, Karzai said Imran Khan’s allegations are not true and are “obvious propaganda against Afghanistan”. In a series of tweets, the former Afghan President stated that the Islamic State from the beginning has been threatening Afghanistan from Pakistan, not the other way around. Karzai advised Imran Khan-led Pak government to refrain from any propaganda against Afghanistan and its “internal affairs”. 

“Strictly refrain from interference, do not speak on behalf of Afghanistan in international forums and on the contrary try to establish good and civilized relations between the two countries as a good neighbour,” Karzai said. 

Imran Khan's pleading fails 

During the OIC summit, Imran Khan, on the other hand, had warned that Afghanistan could potentially become the “biggest man-made crisis” if the world failed to act in a timely manner. He stated that if the Afghan government fails to counter-terrorism, other nations may face spillover. Mentioning the presence of IS in the war-torn country, the Pakistan PM also said that the only way to handle the terror outfit was a stable Afghanistan. 

“If the world doesn't act, this will be the biggest man-made crisis which is unfolding in front of us,” Khan was quoted by PTI.

Further, Imran Khan went on to say that due to years of corruption in the Afghan government, poverty was widespread in Afghanistan even before the former government's collapse. Regarding the human rights issues which the global community has set as a condition for recognition of the interim Afghan Taliban government, Khan told the OIC conference that differences between cultures in different parts of the country must be understood before promoting new values. But in a major blow to Pakistan’s effort to promote Afghanistan’s caretaker government, the OIC did not give the Taliban officials any formal international recognition. Instead, the Afghan-Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi was excluded from the official photograph taken during the event.

(Image: AP)