Pakistan ready to contribute to ISF but not to disarm Hamas, says Dar

ISLAMABAD  –  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said that Pakistan is considering allowing supply of essential food­stuff for the Afghan peo­ple only on the request of the United Nations. 

Addressing a presser at the Ministry of For­eign Affairs, the Dar informed that they re­ceived a request from the UN for reconsidera­tion of permission to al­low humanitarian aid for the Afghan people. Considering the tense situation and closure of borders, he said that though there was no room for relaxation, he would take up the mat­ter of UN’s request with the prime minister and the military leadership, express­ing the hope to take positive ac­tion for the Afghan people solely. He said that permission over es­sential foodstuffs might be grant­ed in a day. Dar candidly argued that despite all the positive steps taken by Pakistan to help the Af­ghan nation, no decisive steps were taken against terrorists on Afghan soil, urging the Taliban re­gime to reflect upon their weak­nesses and fulfill its commit­ment made with the world. He said their generous steps had not been reciprocated by the Taliban de-facto rulers as the terrorism emanating from the Afghan soil had resulted in Shahadat of about 4,000 Pakistan’s security forces personnel since 2021 and inju­ries to thousands. 

Reiterating in the strongest tone, Dar said that it was a whim of Taliban regime that Pakistan could not do anything despite repeated terrorist attacks; Paki­stan had the power and resourc­es to take kinetic actions. The is­sue was heading towards that direction, he said, adding, they received a request from the Qatari leadership for media­tion as they were in constant contact with Pakistan, ‘so an operation cleanup was halted.’ Turkiye also tried to resolve the issue, he added. He, how­ever, hastily added that it was not desirable to conduct such operations inside the home of brothers. Dar said Pakistan had hosted four million Afghan refugees on its soil for decades. 

To a query, he said if the Tali­ban regime was looking for alter­nate routes for trade after bor­ders closures, it would not affect Pakistan. “There is no price for dignity. Self-respect is priceless over which we cannot compro­mise,” he stressed.