Pakistan To Receive Hamid Karzai Next Month
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016 6:56:44 by modousarr
Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president revealed that he will be visiting Pakistan next month. Confirming to a group of journalists at his home in Kabul on Tuesday, he said: “I’ve received an invitation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a couple of days back.”
He is of the opinion that friendly relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan would benefit both countries. He appreciated Pakistan and its people for its ‘tremendous support and hospitality’ to numerous Afghan refugees at a very critical time.
“The Afghans will remember their unprecedented support forever.”
Karzai, nonetheless, was notorious for his strong stance against Pakistan during his rather long presidency. He further expressed his opinion regarding the current Pakistani-Afghan policy.
“The Pakistani establishment should focus on strengthening friendly relations with the Afghans instead of using pressure tactics,” he said. “Strategic depth should not be imposed on us – this should be replaced with a policy of friendship.”
India has always been accused by Pakistan of using Afghan soil against it. Also, India- Kabul relations are not a secret any longer.
When asked about the ‘third country’ trivializing Kabul-Islamabad relations, Karzai voiced “It shows our weaknesses.”
He claimed that the ‘third force’ has always been involved in Afghanistan but Kabul has not granted it enough freedom to implement its dreams.
He suggested that issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan can be dealt with politically with mutual understanding. He rejected the impression that the Afghan government was unable to make decisions as a sovereign state.
When asked about Pakistan’s opinion on Afghanistan’s increasing relations with India, Karzai claimed, “Afghanistan never objected to Pakistan’s relations with other countries. Every nation has the right to promote relations with other countries.” He believed that Pakistan ought not to object to the sovereign rights of its neighbors. “But yes, Pakistan has the right to ensure the territory of its neighbors is not used against it.”
Karzai applauded reconciliation between President Ashraf Ghani’s administration and Gulbudin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan: “I support all steps towards peace and reconciliation. Peace is the only way for survival.”
He further supported the voluntariness exhibited by the Mullah Rasool-led breakaway division of the Afghan Taliban to politically relate with Kabul.
Tags: former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, PakistanShort URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=53154
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