Washington: National Security Adviser Moeed Yousaf has said that instead of pushing homeless Afghans to Pakistan, arrangements should be made to keep them inside their country, within houses.
Addressing a press conference at the Pakistani embassy, Moeed Yousaf said Pakistan was trying to ensure that tensions in Afghanistan did not lead to further bloodshed, according to reports.
“But if a situation arises, it is the responsibility of the international community to create a safe haven inside Afghanistan,” he said.
When asked if Islamabad is ready to accept more Afghan refugees, he asked “Why were they evicted from their homes?”
“Make arrangements for them inside their country, Pakistan is not capable of hosting more refugees,” he added.
Moeed Yusuf called the PTI government’s US policy “realistic and unforgivable, but arrogant.”
He urged them not to focus on “big pictures and headlines”.
It may be recalled that Moeed Yousaf arrived in Washington on July 27 with Faiz Hameed, Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence, to discuss Afghanistan and bilateral relations with his US counterparts.
The ISI chief left Washington a day after talks with US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan at the White House, which was attended by other security officials from both sides.
“We needed direct technical input. It was not a high-level political visit, focusing on technical issues,” Moeed Yousaf said regarding the visit to the United States.
The process of rebuilding Pak-US relations began on May 27 with a meeting between Moeed Yousuf and his US counterpart in Geneva.
He went on to say that talks would continue towards rebuilding relations but “won’t be the same way as in the past with big meetings, big pictures, and headlines, but will be based on results”.
He disagreed with the suggestion that Pakistan had the influence to force the Afghan Taliban to do what they didn’t wish to.
“We have modest, low leverage, but if we had influence, we could have stopped them from destroying Bamiyan Buddhism in the 1990s, at least we could have persuaded them to forcibly expel the TTP,” Yusuf said.
Answering a question about US pressure on Pakistan, Moeed Yousuf said that small worries are unnecessary, if criticism is justified, yes, but asking if Pakistan has troops left? Is that logical?
He pointed out that the Indian Foreign Minister also acknowledged the impact of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), saying, “We raise these issues and discuss them and it is an ongoing process.” ۔
“Of course, Afghanistan is the most important and urgent issue, but this discussion is focused on how to move forward on a number of issues. This week’s meetings are in fact a continuation of the process,” he said.
Moeed Yousaf acknowledged that “Pakistan-US relations have fluctuated, but we need to move forward and we have received a very positive response in that regard”.
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