Islamabad [Pakistan], October 11: Urging the world to engage with the Taliban, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that there “must be hardliners within the group” (Taliban) and it can easily go back to the Taliban of 20 years ago, which would be a disaster, according to local media.
Imran Khan, in an interview with the Middle East Eye on Monday, said: “The world must engage with Afghanistan.”
According to Dawn, Khan warned of the consequences of not doing so.
“There must be hardliners within the group [and] it can easily go back to the Taliban of 20 years ago. And that would be a disaster,” he said, adding that Afghanistan could once again descend into chaos if no engagements were made and it could become a fertile ground for terrorists like ISIS, which is a worry for all countries in the region.
“It would be a total waste, what will the US have to show after 20 years? Therefore, a stable Afghanistan government which can then take on ISIS. And Taliban are the best bet to take on ISIS, that is the only option left.”
Asked about the lack of inclusiveness in the Taliban’s interim government, Imran Khan said that it is not present “right now” but hoped it would be in the future, adding that it was needed because Afghanistan was a diverse society, reported Dawn.
Referring to the issue of women’s rights, he said the Taliban should be incentivised to “walk the talk” –pointing out that the group had said it would allow women to work and get educated.
“Yet, the government is clearly trying to get international acceptability so it wants an inclusive government, talks about human rights and not allowing its soil to be used for terrorism by anyone,” Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying. (Agencies)
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