Says Pakistan has “vast kinetic capabilities”; Excludes anti-Hamas mandate in Gaza stabilization
DPM Ishaq Dar speaking at a briefing in Islamabad on Saturday. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ISLAMABAD:
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday revealed that Islamabad had refrained from striking terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan in a planned clean-up operation after direct intervention by Qatar’s leadership.
Dar said Islamabad was on the verge of launching a kinetic action that “surely would have taught them a lesson”, but ultimately chose to back down in favor of diplomacy at the behest of the friendly Gulf country.
Speaking at the Foreign Office, he said Afghan leaders had wrongly interpreted Islamabad’s restraint as incapacity, warning that Pakistan had “ample kinetic capabilities” but would not prefer to “invade a brotherly country”.
“The situation was probably leading to this point when this issue started. Qatar is a country whose foreign ministry was contacting me every hour at that time,” he said, adding that Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister were calling him “every hour.”
“They found out that we were about to take kinetic action. They asked ‘please stop your camp and we will mediate, take responsibility and resolve the problem’.”
Dar thanked the prime minister and army chief for supporting his position, saying “the clean-up operation that was about to take place that night – which would surely have taught them a lesson – has been stopped.”
Despite Qatar and Turkey’s efforts, nothing tangible has emerged from the negotiations, leaving even the mediators “frustrated”, he added.
The revelations come as ties between Islamabad and the Taliban regime in Kabul have fallen to their lowest level since the group seized Kabul four years ago.
All official border crossings have remained closed since October 11, halting cross-border trade and mobility after a series of Pakistani land engagements and airstrikes along the 2,600-kilometer border against terrorist sanctuaries responsible for the recent increase in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
In the process, a diplomatic sorting was attempted by Turkey and Qatar. The first Doha engagement resulted in a fragile ceasefire, while the subsequent round in the Qatari capital simply resulted in a broad commitment to create a “compliance check” mechanism and a decision to continue dialogue. However, the third session ended in failure, as the regime’s representatives remained stubborn.
Tensions further escalated after Kabul leveled allegations of renewed Pakistani air attacks earlier this week, charges vehemently denied by Pakistan’s security establishment and government ministers.
Referring to attacks by Afghan nationals, including the killing of two US National Guardsmen and assaults on Chinese workers in Tajikistan, Dar, speaking at Saturday’s press conference, warned that “the time is not far away when Muslims and non-Muslims will unite to eliminate this terrorism.”
He urged the Taliban to recognize internal divisions between “peacemakers and warmongers” and reform before the region is forced into harsher solutions.
He also said he was working on a UN request to resume humanitarian aid deliveries to Afghanistan and had obtained consent from the army chief, with only formal approval remaining from the prime minister.
“No anti-Hamas mandate”
Commenting on the proposed multinational peacekeeping mission in Gaza, the foreign minister revealed that Pakistan was ready to send troops but rejected any involvement in the disarmament of Hamas.
He said Pakistan was first confronted with the disarmament proposal during the two-state solution negotiations in Riyadh.
“We are not ready for that. This is not our job, but that of the Palestinian security forces. Our job is peacekeeping, not peace enforcement,” he stressed.
He added that Pakistan had already expressed its willingness to join the mission “in principle”, pending clarification on “what its mission would be”. [ISF] the mandate and terms of reference will be”.
Further, he revealed that concerns over the ISF mandate were not exclusive to Islamabad.
“According to my information, if this includes the disarmament of Hamas, even my Indonesian counterpart has unofficially expressed his reservations,” he said, adding that Indonesia had offered up to 20,000 troops for the mission.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also “in principle” signaled a positive response to Pakistan’s participation.
It is pertinent to note that the proposal to involve Pakistan in the disarmament of Hamas has already sparked a national controversy. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif publicly denounced comments last month by government spokesperson Danyal Chaudhry who had suggested that the ISF would have a disarmament role.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, reiterated to the Security Council that disarmament must be “a negotiated political process” undertaken under the auspices of a unified Palestinian National Authority, and that any foreign forces must operate under a “clear mandate consistent with that of the United Nations.”
Visa issues with the United Arab Emirates
Discussing the European Union’s biennial review of the GSP+ system, Dar said that “almost all our questions have been answered satisfactorily”, with only six points outstanding.
He hopes that three legislative measures will be adopted during the current parliamentary session. He expressed confidence that the visiting EU delegation would “present a very positive report” and expressed optimism about the results of the review.
Dar also acknowledged the growing difficulties Pakistanis face in obtaining visas in the UAE, noting that Islamabad has repeatedly signaled its concerns.
“We are not sleeping. This issue has been raised several times. They have also shown that among the different nationalities involved in crime in the UAE, Pakistanis are unfortunately at the top.”
He revealed that visa restrictions had, at one point, extended to civil servants and ministers.
He cited mass unloading incidents and the persistence of organized begging rings involving Pakistanis in the Gulf states as causes for the UAE’s discontent.
“The problems will not be resolved until the above issues are addressed and eliminated,” he warned.
