Malik asks US to be pragmatic as it leaves Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister Abdul Rehman Malik has urged US President Joe Biden and world powers to play their role in bringing peace in Afghanistan to win the hearts and minds of Afghans.

In an open letter, Malik suggested Biden devise a pragmatic exit strategy to stop further bloodshed in Afghanistan where the US forces have already started vacating Bagram Air Base which is being handed over to Afghan forces.

Malik, who also head Institute of Research and Reforms, expressed his apprehension that if the world powers do not converge on the sole objective of restoring peace in Afghanistan, he sees Taliban marching towards Kabul, making it dangerous for the anti-Taliban and non-Taliban government and the Afghan society. He said that without a pragmatic exit strategy, mass exodus of Afghan refugees to the neighboring countries which could create a brand of the ‘Zaliman’ creating trouble for the world.