India lashes out as Pakistan urges world to work with Afghanistan’s Taliban
- PM Narendra Modi raised concerns about Pakistan during talks with US President Joe Biden as well as a broader four-way summit with Quad leaders
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan, addressing the UN General Assembly, said the Taliban had vowed to respect human rights and build an inclusive government
“There was a clear sense that a more careful look and a more careful examination and monitoring of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan – Pakistan’s role on the issue of terrorism – had to be kept,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters after the White House talks.
If the world community incentivises them, and encourages them to walk this talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone
Khan, addressing the UN General Assembly, said that the Taliban have promised to respect human rights and build an inclusive government since taking over last month, despite global disappointment in a caretaker cabinet.
“If the world community incentivises them, and encourages them to walk this talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone,” Khan said. “We must strengthen and stabilise the current government, for the sake of the people of Afghanistan.”
Khan spent much of his speech defending the record of Pakistan, which was the main supporter of the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime that imposed an ultra-austere interpretation of Islam and welcomed al-Qaeda, triggering the US invasion after the September 11 attacks.