Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Kashmir Affairs, and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam said on Saturday that negotiations with Afghanistan fall outside the provincial government’s jurisdiction.
Islamabad has repeatedly conveyed its concerns to the Afghan government over the presence of terror outfits, including the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), inside Afghanistan, saying that the militants have consistently used Afghan soil to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory. Kabul denies the allegations.
Last month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced plans to send a delegation to Afghanistan for dialogue on bilateral issues. This week, the provincial government said it would engage cross-border tribesmen to curb militancy and ensure regional peace.
“Negotiations with Afghanistan are not the domain of the provincial government, it is a federal subject,” Muqam said while appearing on the Dawn News programme ‘Doosra Rukh’ on Saturday.
He clarified that if a province wishes to speak with a foreign nation, it should pass on its request to the federation. “If the province talks on its own behalf, then who will implement [commitments made during the talks]?” he asked.
The minister continued, “In this manner, Balochistan will say tomorrow that they will talk to Iran, and Punjab will say that it shares a border with India, so they want to talk to them.
“Ali Amin Gandapur should not do this, it does not come under his domain, it is a federal subject.”
Muqam then turned his attention to negotiations between the PTI and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “What was the fate of the talks they held earlier and what was the result?” he asked.
When asked if the federal government was not taken into confidence before this statement by the KP chief minister, he replied: “He always follows his whims, he acts like a king. The PTI founder is like this as well as the party, whatever idea they have, they go on about it themselves.”