Stanikzai calls on Pakistan envoy to ‘restore relations’

Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai told Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires to Afghanistan Asad Abbas on Thursday that Pakistani officials sometimes make statements about the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) that causes “regret”.

At a meeting in Kabul, Stanikzai told Abbas that “both sides should pay serious attention to it,” a statement issued by the ministry said, adding that Abbas promised to solve existing problems.

“It is the responsibility of the embassy to restore the relations between the two countries,” Abbas said.

This comes after Stanekzai called on Pakistan last month to stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal issues.

Referring to remarks by Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif claiming a presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Stanekzai said that the Islamic Emirate denies and condemns the claims and that it will also not allow anyone to make such statements toward Afghanistan.

“We strongly condemned the Pakistan Prime Minister’s action. We don’t allow anyone to speak against the Islamic Emirate … If Pakistan has an economic problem and is placed on a black list of the IMF, no one takes their call to give them money. If you (Pakistan) is not given a loan, it is your problem–find your way through any way you can, but don’t talk about the dignity of the people of Afghanistan and don’t defame Afghanistan just to earn some money,” he said.

Earlier, Sharif told the 77th General Assembly of the UN that “Pakistan shares the key concern of the international community regarding the threat posed by the major terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan especially ISIS-K and TTP, as well as al-Qaeda, ETIM and IMU.”