02-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Bilawal urges Afghan govt to fulfil commitments under Doha Agreement
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari urged Afghan interim government to fulfill its commitments under the Doha Agreement to establish peace and stability in the region.
Bilawal also urged the Indian government to abandon its confrontational posture and engage in meaningful dialogue for peace and to jointly fight against terrorism for development and prosperity for the people.
While addressing at the opening session of an international conference on 'Pakistan Fighting War for the World Against Terrorism,' he said, 'Pakistan supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, but instead faced a surge in cross-border terror attacks. Taliban regime was greeted as an inevitable fact.
They promised the world stability, they delivered a 40 percent surge in militant attacks on Pakistani soil, and a sanctuary for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), and others. We saved Kabul. Sovereignty confers duty. Stop the exodus of fighters, choke the traffic of arms, and honour the blood price of the Doha accord or be judged by the company you keep.'
Bilawal said, 'The broken promises of the Taliban regime are destabilising the region. The Afghan interim government should uphold its obligations.'
He said, 'Over the past two decades, Pakistan's military force backed by iron-willed citizens have broken the backs of Al-Qaeda networks, dismantled so-called caliphates such as Daesh, and driven the TTP from the fortress to the fox hills.'
Bilawal further said that Pakistan military's operation 'Zarb-e-Azab' drained the northern swamp, 'Raddul Fassad' uprooted the sleeper cells in our cities and elsewhere. Today operations in Balochistan sever the connection between separatism and foreign funded terror, he said.
He said that Pakistan sacrificed in the war on terror and paid a heavy price in both lives and economic losses, but remained resolute. He also highlighted the rise in militant violence over the past year, saying '2024 was the deadliest year in a decade in which 685 service members embraced martyrdom in 444 separate attacks.'
'Our economy has forfeited more than $150 billion in lost growth, shattered infrastructure, and displaced livelihoods. And still, we fight because the alternative is surrender, and surrender is not a word in the Pakistani dictionary,' he said.
He asserted that Pakistan would continue its fight against terrorism to ensure a secure future for coming generations.
The PPP chairman also called on India to engage in dialogue for lasting peace, emphasising the need to resolve the issue of Kashmir in line with the aspirations of its people and to end the use of water as a weapon.
He called on the international community to learn from Pakistan's experience in combating terrorism and reiterated that extremists have no religion, nationality, or ideology and pose a global threat.
The PPP chairman said, 'We asked for structured investment in counter terrorism and counter violent extremism, modern technology and weaponry. No counter insurgency has achieved victory without first winning hearts and minds.'
'Terrorism recognises no law, borders or beliefs,' he added, advocating for united global efforts to eliminate the threat.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
