Pakistan's NSA now wants world to 'learn from past mistakes & engage with Taliban'

In a breaking development, Pakistan has urged the international community to 'learn from past mistakes' and engage with the hardline terror outfit, Taliban, which is now in absolute control of Afghanistan. PM Imran Khan-led government advocated the notion stating that it will avoid the humanitarian and refugee crisis generated in the war-ravaged State.

In the wake of the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and its re-emergence after twenty years, Pakistan National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf remarked that the international community should refrain from infusing a security vacuum by 'abandoning' ordinary Afghans. 

'We must keep Taliban honest to promises' : Pakistan National Security Advisor

Pakistan's NSA said that the on-ground reality is that the Taliban are in control but he said, "We must keep them honest to their promises, but engage for the sake of the average Afghans. Otherwise, we will end up in the same place. It wasn't well last time."

"Another humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was not inevitable, but only if the international community learn from the mistakes of the past and do not create a security vacuum by abandoning ordinary Afghans," Yusuf was cited as saying.

Pakistan-Taliban nexus

Notably, Pakistan has been outrightly blamed for extending support to Taliban terrorists and even nurtured a safe haven for the insurgent groups and their factions. While the Taliban, with the aid of the Pakistani Army, intensified attacks in Afghanistan before the incessant, hostile and violent territorial gains, PM Imran Khan-led regime has not shied away from acknowledging the terror organisation as Afghanistan's legitimate government. 

In July 2021, demonstrators raised voices worldwide against Islamabad's role in the Afghanistan debacle and inculpated the country for helping the Taliban. Voices from across the world have been increasingly urging hard-hitting economic sanctions on Pakistan for its 'proxy war' in Afghanistan to an extent where experts and Afghans claimed that Islamabad has had the Taliban's back. Pakistani terror outfits, as well as the government, conduced not one but over 50 attacks amongst many of the Taliban's aggressive and unlawful advances against Afghan forces.

Reports and dialogue exchanges between world leaders suggest that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is Pakistan's top intelligence agency, has 'close contacts' to the Taliban leadership. In fact, Pakistan can be traced back to the early 1970s for supporting different factions of Afghanistan mujahideen fighting against the Soviet occupation. More pertinently, Islamabad allegedly continued to offer logistical support and backing to insurgents.

Afghanistan 'caretaker' Saleh exposes Pakistan on Republic TV

In an exclusive interview with Republic TV on August 26, Afghanistan 'caretaker' president Amrullah Saleh exposed Pakistan's role in the Taliban takeover of his country. Taliban is not alone in this. They are backed by Pakistan. They are backed by Pakistan's military, intelligence and diplomatic service. As long as America is unwilling to publicly acknowledge the malign role of Pakistan and just say that they are dealing with the Taliban, this problem won't be fixed, Saleh said. 

Furthermore, he had said that Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, has been acting as one of the delegates of the Taliban. He accused Qureshi of attempting to reform not the Taliban but its impression on the world. He has been advocating that the terror organisation has 'changed'.

"The Taliban is the hand, the brain is the Pakistani establishment and the Army. Qureshi these days is acting as the Foreign Minister of the Taliban trying to charm the world that they have changed. They have not changed. I am very sure that the West will regret it big time," Amrullah Saleh had said. 

In fact, after twin blasts at Kabul airport on August 26, the Taliban shirked the onus and had placed it on ISIS-K, to which Saleh remarked that the Taliban denying links with ISIS was equivalent to Pakistan's denial on Quetta Shura and said that they had 'learned well' from their masters. 

Pakistan has become the focus of ascending international anger over the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan, with rapidly increasing calls for sanctions or punitive or coercive measures to be imposed on Islamabad. There are plenty who have interpreted the hand of Pakistan behind the Taliban's resurgence, which has led to recriminations levelled at the PM Imran Khan-led State, which is greylisted under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for failing to check its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regime.