It’s premature to react on Afghan caretaker setup: minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said it would be premature to give reaction on the caretaker setup announced by the Taliban in Afghanistan."We should wait a while, it is not appropriate to comment at this time," the minister said in an interview with the BBC. To a question, he said it was learned through media that the CIA chief visited Kabul. He said that according to media reports, the Turkish and Qatari intelligence chiefs were also present in Kabul.

Fawad said in the absence of a formal government there, a framework was needed where both Pakistan and Afghanistan could discuss bilateral issues. "We have been facing serious problems with Afghanistan, including the expansion of the ISIS, the refugees problem and the TTP’s migration from Afghanistan," he said.

"We have been in talks with the Taliban and Pakistan facilitated their talks with the United States," he said. Pakistan assisted and evacuated thousands of foreign nationals from Afghanistan that was appreciated by the international community, he said.

The minister said there is no military solution to the Afghanistan issue and this is what Pakistan has been trying to convey since 2007.

Had Pakistan’s advice been paid heed, the situation in Afghanistan today would have been different, he added. Pakistan lost 80,000 lives due to Afghan war and suffered $150 billion economic losses and India is constantly trying to defame Pakistan through baseless propaganda, Fawad said, adding that Indian media’s fabricated game show of Pakistan’s participation in the Panjshir fighting is ludicrous. This fake story was screened in a number of Indian talk shows which proved how marketing agencies are working in India to fulfil their nefarious designs against Pakistan.