Pak, India should sit together to resolve outstanding issues: Taliban
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Aug, 2021 10:24 AM
New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) In his first comments on Kashmir, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid has said that Pakistan and India should sit together to resolve all their outstanding issues because both are neighbours and their interests are linked to each other.
Mujahid made the remarks during a wide-ranging interview with Pakistani TV channel ARY News.
On Jammu and Kashmir, Zabihullah said New Delhi needs to have a "positive attitude towards the disputed territory", ARY News reported.
About ties with countries, particularly India, Mujahid said the Taliban desires good ties with all nations, including India that is an important part of the region.
"Our desire is that India devise its policy as per the interests of Afghan people," he added.
He stated in clear terms that the Taliban won't allow Afghan soil to be used against any other country.
He was of the view that Pakistan and India should sit together to resolve all their outstanding issues because both are neighbours and their interests are linked to each other, ARY News reported.
Mujahid on Wednesday said that the group, which now rules Afghanistan, considers Pakistan as their second home and won't allow any activity on Afghan soil which goes against Pakistan's interests.
The Haqqani network also established close ties with Pakistan's powerful yet notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which provided it weapons, training, and financial support.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit, and France's Emmanuel Macron were among those calling for an extension in order to more fully evacuate all foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans who helped the Americans and the NATO allies before the country's recent fall to the Taliban.
The Pentagon promptly announced it will press ahead with plans to require members of the military to get vaccinated amid the battle against the extra-contagious delta variant. Louisiana State University likewise said it will demand its students get the shot.
The situation at the Kabul airport has remained tense ever since the Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours on August 15.
Barrons, a Dow Jones & Company publication, said that tensions in the "Middle East have the potential to lift prices." It noted that earlier JP Morgan had predicted that oil prices could touch $80 a barrel with rising demand and constraint supply.
While Biden has previously blamed Afghans for the U.S. failure to get out more allies ahead of this month's sudden Taliban takeover, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that American diplomats had formally urged weeks ago that the administration ramp up evacuation efforts.
