A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that the government was in talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said wars only come to a halt through dialogue.
Addressing a public meeting in Pind Dadan Khan, the federal minister said now time has come to shift focus towards security and stabilize the economy. He said now the issue of the neighbouring country was settled, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a new agenda of reconciliation to bring those elements in national mainstream who, in the past, were distracted by the inimical forces. He said for durable peace it was imperative to hold talks with those elements who were ready to surrender arms and believe in rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.
The minister said thousands of Pakistanis had laid down their lives in the Afghan war but fortunately, the Taliban had taken over Kabul “without shedding a single drop of blood”. He said since 2005, PM Imran Khan was calling for a political solution for the Afghanistan problem, but the world did not pay heed – but with time, the international community acknowledged the wisdom in what was said. He said when PM Imran Khan assumed office in 2018, he had asked then US president Donald Trump to start a dialogue for the resolution of the Afghan problem. He said finally the US and the Taliban sat at the negotiation table due to the efforts of Pakistan, adding that it was a great achievement of Islamabad’s political and military leadership that US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan was completed “without any bloodshed”.
The minister said it was the vision and politics of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan which made Pakistan a peaceful and prosperous nation. He said more than 3000 disgruntled Baloch youth had surrendered arms and rejoined the national mainstream. He said his step was vital to save the new generation from terrorism and violence and pave the way for stronger Pakistan.
He said top leadership of other political parties including PPP and PML-N was in the hands of political novices like Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maryam Safdar who had no experience and could not understand complexities of global politics. He appealed to senior leaders of both the parties not to follow them as Pakistan was not a monarchy and leaders could not be chosen on the basis of wills or telephone calls. He said it was highly ironic that both the parties claimed to be struggling for democracy and democratic values but actually there was dictatorship inside both parties.
He said PTI had no comparison with frivolous and immature leadership of other political parties as it was only party popular in all parts of the country from Karachi to Peshawar and from Gilgit-Baltistan to Quetta. He recalled that Karachi, which was dominated by ethnic politics for many decades, was brought back in mainstream by Imran Khan as in 2018, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf won from the most of its constituencies.