After Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan offered to send manpower and technical assistance to Afghanistan, the Taliban regime has declined the offer. After Afghan citizens and former officials had rejected the offer by Imran Khan, the Taliban rulers also have reacted to the same, saying that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not need cooperation and assistance in this regard.

Deputy of spokesman of the Taliban govt Bilal Karimi said that Afghanistan has a sufficient number of trained and qualified people in the country, and they do not need foreigners from any country for assistance, according to Khaama Press.

On Saturday (January 15), former Afghan President Hamid Karzai (2001-2014) also rebuked the Pakistani government and turned down an offer by Imran Khan dispensation to send manpower and technical assistance to the incumbent Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

In a statement, Karzai stated, “Afghanistan has experienced academics, experts & hundreds of thousands of educated youth, who completed their education at home & abroad…there is no need for foreign manpower.”

“Hamid Karzai welcomes PM Imran Khan’s suggestion over sending foreign manpower in particular Pakistani manpower to Afghanistan but there is no need for such manpower.” the statement issued by the former president said.

Not just the Taliban and the former president, even ordinary Afghans were not happy with Imran Khan’s offer to send assistance, and even mocked him for the same, saying that Pakistan need these help more. What irked most the Afghan citizens was Imran Khan’s offer to send ‘skilled manpower', which implies there is a lack of the same in Afghanistan. They rejected this claim and affirmed that the country has enough experienced academics and experts, and they do not need any manpower from Pakistan.

Afghans also praised the Taliban regime for taking a strong stand and rejecting Imran Khan’s offer.

Earlier on Friday (January 14), Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered to send money, manpower, and technical assistance to Afghanistan. During a meeting of the Apex Committee on Afghanistan, Khan said, “Pakistan is committed to providing all-out support to the Afghan people to avert a humanitarian crisis.”

He further added, “Explore bilateral cooperation with friendly countries as well to stave off a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by exporting qualified and trained manpower, especially in fields of medical, information technology, finance, and accounting.” The meeting was attended by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sheikh Rashid, Fawad Hussain, and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Imran Khan had also called for co-operation in various sectors including railways, minerals, and pharmaceuticals with Afghanistan. So far, Pakistan had sent 50,000 Metric tonnes of wheat, health supplies, and in-kind humanitarian assistance of PKR 5 billion. It must be mentioned that Pakistan, which is trying to position itself as a friend of Afghanistan in the need of the hour, has been the frontrunner in exacerbating the political turmoil in the country.

Investigations reveal Pakistani support in helping the Taliban to take over Kabul

In September last year, US defence analyst Sarah Chayes in an interview with CNN explained how Pakistan’s ISI ran a sophisticated campaign for reinstalling the Taliban in power. When asked if the Taliban had cleverly utilised the 20 years' time to build its capability and stake its claim to power, Chayes said it wasn’t the terror group but Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI that used its resources cleverly to help topple the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan.

A documentary released in 2012, almost a decade before the fall of Kabul to resurgent Taliban, shed light on the double-dealing of the entities that identified themselves as the allies of the United States but were covertly working to undermine its mission in Afghanistan. Titled as ‘The Secret War’, the documentary was a culmination of the six-month-long investigation carried out by Smith and Stephen Grey and which provided a window into interminably long-drawn-out war the United States had waged against Islamic terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban

During the investigation, Smith and Grey found that the American soldiers stationed along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border were unhappy with the latter, for their covert support to the insurgency and terrorism targeted against the United States. One of the US troops, who wished to remain anonymous, confided to the reporters that the ground soldiers manning the border reportedly complained to the seniors about the Pakistani complicity in helping the Talibani and Al Qaeda terrorists cross the border and infiltrate into Afghanistan.

References:

opindia.com - OpIndia Staff