Pakistan’s foreign minister and prominent national political leader, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has assured that his country has no intention of engaging in peace negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban, whom he accused of being an «unconstitutional» group, although he assured that the Pakistani Army has no intention of undertaking cross-border operations that could agitate the Afghan Taliban movement.
«The new leadership of power in Pakistan,» he explained, referring to Pakistani Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif, «has made it clear: we do not negotiate with terrorist organizations that do not respect our Constitution».
In an interview with the newspaper ‘Washington Post’ from the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), the minister and president of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has expressed his intention to work with the «acting government of Afghanistan», in reference to the Taliban, «because they have influence over these groups».
After accusing former prime minister and major political rival Imran Jan of «giving the Pakistani Taliban a place to hide,» the foreign minister has reiterated his spirit of collaboration with Afghan fundamentalists. «Whatever the situation in Afghanistan, it is a reality that we all have to deal with. We need to engage aggressively with the interim government in Afghanistan,» he said.
In fact, and in a subsequent conversation with the official Turkish news agency Anadolu, the minister has indicated that his country «has no intention of launching a cross-border operation» against Pakistani Taliban safe havens in the mountains between the two countries «nor is there any intention to launch a new military intervention after the long war in Afghanistan.»
«Our preferred option is for the interim government of Afghanistan to take action against terrorists who may be in their country, and we are ready and willing to help them build up their capacity and capability to deal with that threat,» he has concluded.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
