Even as the severe fighting between Afghanistan’s pro-government forces and the Sunni Islamist hardline militia Taliban raged on, Islamabad said on Monday that it would not let the fallout affect Pakistan.  Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had two days back said at least 200 to 600 people are being killed every day in the ongoing violence.

Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the government's policy on Afghanistan was "in Pakistan's interest".

"[We] are monitoring the changing situation in Afghanistan. [We are] trying our best for a way forward in Afghanistan through a peaceful regime that is [formed] based on suggestions from all [stakeholders]," he tweeted.

In another tweet, Chaudhry recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent statement that Pakistan could be partners with the US in peace, but not in conflict.

He further stated: "Pakistan's land is not being used against Afghanistan and [we] hope that Afghanistan's territory, too, will not be used against Pakistan."
 
Imran Khan had come out with the clarification in the National Assembly following speculations that started doing the rounds after a media report last month quoted US officials as saying that Pakistan would continue to provide air and ground access to the US military for its Afghan operations.

Islamabad had then denied the report and said it had turned down a US request for setting up drone bases in Pakistan for future counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

Chaudhry added that the political and parliamentary leadership in Pakistan had agreed on the "principle of non-interference [in case of Afghanistan]".

The information minister's remarks are the latest in a string of statements by Pakistani authorities regarding growing concerns over rising violence in Afghanistan and its expected fallout in Pakistan, with the US drawdown in the war-torn country now in its final stages.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf had warned while briefing the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that the situation was turning volatile in Afghanistan.

Yusuf had termed the situation in the neighboring country "extremely bad and out of Pakistan's control". He had warned of an impending risk of an attack by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militants, who, he had said, could enter Pakistan disguised as refugees.
Qureshi had expressed worry that in case of a civil war in Afghanistan, Pakistan would not be able to handle the influx of refugees, according to a Dawn report.

A day later, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar had clarified that Pakistan was a facilitator of the Afghan peace process and not a guarantor.

(SAM)