Kabul summons Pak diplomat on Imran’s interim govt remarks

KABUL: The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Pakistan Embassy’s Counselor in Kabul a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan repeated his remarks on an interim set up in Afghanistan which he believes will break stalemate in the peace process, the Afghan media reported.

Afghan Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi said they once again expressed their objection on Imran Khan’s remarks. He said that Afghanistan decided to send its ambassador back to Islamabad after he was summoned to come to Kabul following the first-time remarks of Imran Khan in late March.

But Ahmadi said the remarks were repeated and that “the Afghan government considers recent Imran Khan’s statement a clear interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and deems the remarks a return to Imran Khan’s previous stance and demands explanation by the government of Pakistan”.

Addressing a rally in Jamrud, Imran Khan had said that he had given a “brotherly advice” to Afghanistan but he was criticised for his statement.

“We should all pray for peace in Afghanistan so that the people over there can live once again,” he said. “I gave a brotherly advice to the Afghan government due to which they became furious. I have learned in my experience that neutrality benefits everyone,” the prime minister told the Jamrud gathering.

Imran Khan’s Friday remarks supported the suggestion he made in late March in which he had said the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan can possibly resolve the problems and will support the ongoing peace process.