Speaking to CNN from his private Bani Gala residence in Islamabad, Khan spoke of enduring what he perceived as a “terrible” relationship with the United States that has been disastrous for Pakistan and how he now seeks a more pragmatic approach. to deal with The new leaders of Afghanistan.
It was the prime minister’s first interview with an international news organization since the Taliban took control of neighboring Afghanistan last month, following the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops.
“The Taliban keep all of Afghanistan and if they can now work for an inclusive government, bring all factions together, Afghanistan can have peace after 40 years. But if it goes wrong, and that’s what really worries us, it could go to chaos. The biggest humanitarian crisis, a huge refugee problem, “Khan said.
Khan said the Taliban are seeking international help to avert a crisis, which could be used to push the group in the “right direction towards legitimacy.” However, he warned that Afghanistan could not be controlled by external forces.
“People do not support any puppet government in Afghanistan,” he said. “So, instead of sitting here and thinking that we can control them, we should encourage them. Because Afghanistan, this current government, clearly believes that without international aid and assistance they will not be able to stop this crisis. we should push. in the right direction. “
Even before the Taliban returned to power, protracted conflicts, poverty, consecutive droughts, economic decline and the coronavirus pandemic had worsened an already dire situation in which 18 million Afghans (nearly half the population). ) needed help, according to UN agencies.
To critics who say the Taliban will destabilize the country, Khan pointed to the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989, which resulted in a “bloodbath.” Khan said he expected a similar bloodbath to pass after the departure of US forces.
“Our intelligence agencies told us that the Taliban could not take over all of Afghanistan and if they tried to take Afghanistan militarily, there would be a protracted civil war, which is what scared us because we are the ones who would suffer the most, ”Khan said. Now, he said, the world should “give them time” to form a legitimate government and deliver on its promises.
Women in government
Since taking power, the militant group has tried to burn down its international credentials, with promises to defend human rights, especially with regard to women and girls, and to allow journalists to continue their work.
“It is a mistake to think that someone outside will give rights to Afghan women. Afghan women are strong. Give them time. They will get their rights,” Khan said.
“Women should have the capacity of a society to fulfill its potential in life,” Khan said. “In Pakistan, what we’ve done is we’ve actually paid stipends to poor families for girls to study at school because we believe that if girls, if the girl studies, have an education, they’ll get their own rights,” he said. to say.
However, many in the international community do not trust the Taliban to make progress in defending women’s rights. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 but were forced to leave power after the U.S.-led invasion, have historically treated women as second-class citizens, subjecting them to violence, forced marriages and an almost invisible presence in the country.
The group banned women from the workplace, prevented them from leaving home unaccompanied, and forced them to cover their entire bodies.
Withdrawal from the US
Khan has previously criticized the U.S. exit from Afghanistan and said he has not spoken to President Joe Biden since the Taliban took control, although Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally.
“I imagine he’s very busy, but our relationship with the United States doesn’t just depend on a phone call, but it has to be a multidimensional relationship,” Khan said.
It’s something Khan doesn’t feel he enjoyed Pakistan during the 20-year U.S. war in Afghanistan. “We (Pakistan) were like a contracted weapon,” Khan said. “We were supposed to win the war in Afghanistan (the United States), which we never could.”
Khan said he had repeatedly warned U.S. officials that the United States could not achieve its goals militarily and that “they would be trapped there.” He said the United States should have tried to reach a political agreement with the Taliban from a “position of strength,” at the height of its presence in Afghanistan, not when it withdrew.
Pakistan has maintained deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused of supporting the group while fighting the US-backed government, allegations denied by Islamabad. In 2018, Pakistani authorities released Mullah Baradar, a senior Taliban official, from prison for the express purpose of negotiating with the US. Last week, he was appointed deputy prime minister in the Taliban’s all-male cabinet.
On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would review its ties with Pakistan after the withdrawal. He told Congress during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Pakistan has a “multiplicity of interests that are in conflict with ours.”
“It’s about constantly covering your bets on the future of Afghanistan, which is to welcome members of the Taliban … It also participates in various points of cooperation with us in the fight against terrorism,” Blinken said. reported Reuters. .
Khan called the comments “ignorant,” telling CNN that “I’ve never felt that ignorance.”
As a neighboring country with deep cultural ties, Pakistan’s fate is tied to that of Afghanistan. Violence, political turmoil and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan inevitably escape the border. For Khan, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was disastrous for Pakistan.
According to Khan, thousands of Pakistanis lost their lives in terrorist attacks by militant groups due to their country’s support for the US. “Just by supporting the United States, we became an ally of the United States after 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. The suffering that this country suffered at one point was 50 groups. militants who attacked our government … in addition they should also know that there have been 480 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, ”he added.
“The only time a country has been attacked by its ally,” he said about the U.S. strikes.
The United States has repeatedly accused Pakistan of hosting terrorists and given them refuge, Khan says he denies.
“What are these safe havens?” Khan asked. “The area of Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan had the most intense surveillance of U.S. drones … sure they would have known if there was any safe haven?”
By not facing the U.S., former Pakistani heads of state opened up to accusations of collaboration, Khan said.
“The question is whether Pakistan was in a position to take military action against the Afghan Taliban when it was already being attacked from within, by the Pakistani Taliban attacking the state of Pakistan?” He said.
Khan said he cannot destroy his country by “fighting someone else’s war.”
“The Afghan Taliban were not attacking us. I would like to be in government. I would have told the US that we will not take them on militarily because we must first serve the people. My responsibility would have been the people of my country,” Khan said.
CNN’s Becky Anderson, Alireza Haji Hosseini and Zeena Saifi reported from Islamabad and Helen Regan wrote from Hong Kong. With additional Reuters reports.