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BBC Reporting
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Afghans have "broken the shackles of slavery" in a speech about cultural imperialism.
His comments criticising education in English in Pakistan came a day after the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, following days of rapid advances.
Pakistan was one of only three countries to recognise the Afghan Taliban Government in 1996, and is expected to make key decisions today at its national security committee meeting chaired by the prime minister and attended by senior military and intelligence agency officials.
Separately, Pakistan's major religious political parties Jamat-e-Islami and JUI-F congratulated the Afghan Taliban on their recent βsuccessβ and extended their full support and co-operation to the movement in Afghanistan. Some members of these religious groups also distributed sweets to celebrate the Taliban takeover.
The Taliban are also in control of the two major border crossings with Pakistan. One of them, the Torkham crossing, was briefly closed to pedestrians and trade after it was seized by Taliban fighters. Pakistan is not currently allowing any new refugees to enter the country and Afghans are therefore only allowed to return to their country via these crossings.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met a delegation of Afghan political leaders from Northern Afghanistan who expressed their concerns regarding the inclusion of minorities and other ethnic groups in any future government of Afghanistan.
The PM said, βWestern Balochistan, right next to the border with Iran and Afghanistan had very little interconnectivity and thus very little socio-economic development. Because of a lack of development, these extremists rise. If a young man is unemployed and has no stake in the system, these terrorists can recruit him very easily.β The Prime Minister further said, βI am thinking of talking to Baloch separatists, elements that are being used by India, it could be that they have genuine concerns over deprivation. It may be that they had grievances in the old times and may have been used by other countries India may have used them to spread chaos but the situation [now] is not as it was then in Balochistan and progress and development is coming," he added.
It is now certain that after Waziristan and the northern areas, Pakistan is shifting its attention to Balochistan to fight terrorism and separatism. Talks with terrorists and separatists is a classical move that Pakistan has used previously in the bordering areas of Afganistan. Pakistan spoke with TTP before going after them in a 2-year long operation 'Zarb-E-Azb'. It also shows that Pakistan has also made preparations in case the talks fail and military action has to be taken. I felt that PMIK would now do something within Pakistan, like taking out known Indian terror groups and their networks within Pakistan and in Balochistan. It was unlikely that he would take a drastic step. It looks like I was right, but it's too early to say what Paki intelligence intends to do. The following days are going to be interesting especially in Balochistan. Hope everything goes well for Pakistan and its residents.
If you don't know me, Hey, I'm Black Bird. I research militaries and intelligence agencies also comment on their role in International Politics.
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