Caretaker govt has excellent ties with Army: Kakar

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that the caretaker government has got “excellent working relationship” with the military.

“All the challenges of the government we deliberate over them and wherever we feel there is an institutional input required from that side [army], we have an open communication channel with them and we receive a lot of honest input from that and not just input from that, we receive coordination and cooperation in the enforcement part,” a media outlet reported quoting Kakar.

According to Arab News, the interim PM said the term the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general had been extended to preserve “continuity” of policy at a time the country faces increasing militant attacks.

This is the first time a Pakistani official has publicly commented on the extension of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, who was due to retire late this month. The military has not yet announced Anjum’s extension formally but there has been weeks-long speculation in the media that it had been granted.

The last DG ISI to get an extension was Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, whose tenure coincided with major anti-militant offensives in the country’s northwest.

“Try to understand the point on continuity [of policy]. Any system prefers and supports the idea of continuity,” Kakar told Arab News in an interview this week, when asked why the ISI DG was given an extension.

“You want to have a continuation of the process, and for you the continuation of that process is important so that idea or practice or brand gets entrenched,” the interim PM added.

“So, in that context at times in many institutions, you do feel, or the political dispensation feels, that some individual has to continue for any security benefit or otherwise, and they [the state] have got the discretion to do that [grant extension]. There’s nothing unusual and abnormal about it.”

Kakar told Arab News he did not want to link the rise in militancy to a possible delay in the election. “They [militants] keep on changing their tactics, we have to respond accordingly,” the he said. “So that’s why I’m saying that I’m not linking it [rise in attacks] or our government is not linking it with the electoral process.”

“As we will be approaching to the electoral day, this kind of rhetoric would further increase and for very obvious, understandable reasons and that [is that] every political party wants to create a perception in my opinion with its voters and its support base that they are the victim of the administration and to attract that sympathy and translate to into vote support,” Kakar said, rebuffing accusations of unfair competition.

“I don’t see that there is a government policy of the caretaker to encourage or discourage one or other political group.”

Responding to allegations by the PTI of a widespread crackdown against the party, Kakar said all parties had the right to seek remedies through courts. “They should exhaust all the legal options if they are being legally barred from the electoral process,” the interim PM said.

When asked if he was prepared to create a “level playing field” by suspending Imran Khan’s sentence so he could contest elections, as the Punjab administration had done for Sharif, Kakar said: “We will deliberate in that situation if [it arises] … If it comes to that, we will deliberate that what are the options and what needs to be done and we will decide accordingly.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with Turkiye’s Anadolu news agency, Kakar said that despite India’s lack of interest, Pakistan is focused to reap the benefits from the long-pending four-nation energy corridor, TAPI. But if India chooses to remain out of the benefit of this whole arrangement, they still can do it,” he said.

“With or without India, the Turkmen gas can be exploited for the economic benefit of this region, and we are very much focused on achieving that target.

On Pakistan’s move to deport illegal foreigners, Kakar said the decision was meant to have a regulated movement across the borders. .He mentioned that illegal immigration was never encouraged by any country in the world and Pakistan’s step was in the same context.

About relations with India, he said the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was vital for the normalisation of ties between the two neighbours. “Kashmir is an outstanding issue between India and Pakistan. Pakistan’s traditional position is that it should be resolved in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he said.

Separately, in an interview with the Uzbek television channel Ozbekistan24, the interim PM said that an enhanced air, road and rail connectivity between Pakistan and Uzbekistan was vital. “The connectivity through direct air, rail, and roads will be the answer to bringing the peoples closer,” he remarked. Kakar appreciated the Uzbek president’s eagerness to execute the rail link between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Kakar met with President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two leaders are attending the Extraordinary Summit of the OIC convened to discuss the dire situation in occupied Palestine resulting from the aggression of the Israeli occupation forces both in Gaza and the West Bank. The prime minister conveyed unflinching solidarity of Pakistan with the Palestinian people. President Abbas appreciated Pakistan’s expression of solidarity in this difficult time and its principled stance on the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. The two leaders emphasized the urgency of an unconditional ceasefire, end to the siege of Gaza and smooth delivery of vital humanitarian aid and medical assistance to the affected population. They underlined the need for international collaboration to stop Israel from further bloodshed. They appealed to the global community, particularly the United Nations and its pertinent organizations, to take resolute measures to uphold principles of justice and humanity and end the carnage of the Palestinian people.