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Sunday, October 23, 2011
Afghanistan to back Pakistan if attacked
* Karzai says Kabul will never betray a ‘brother’ if Pakistan is attacked by US or India * Pak-US tensions did not have any impact on Kabul’s attitude towards Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of hostilities with any nation, including the United States or India, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview to a private Pakistani TV channel broadcast on Saturday.
The remarks were in sharp contrast to recent tension between the two neighbours over cross-border raids, and Afghan accusations that Pakistan was involved in killing the chief Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani on September 20.
“God forbid, if ever there is a war between Pakistan and America, Afghanistan will side with Pakistan,” he said. Asked specifically if Afghanistan would back Pakistan if it was attacked by India, Karzai replied: “Anybody that attacks Pakistan, Afghanistan will stand with Pakistan. Afghanistan will be a brother of Pakistan. Afghanistan will never betray a brother”.
“If Pakistan is attacked by anyone, and if the people of Pakistan need Afghanistan’s help, Afghanistan will be there with you,” he said.
Such a situation is extremely unlikely, however. Despite months of tension and tough talk between Washington and Islamabad, the two allies appear to be working to ease tension.
Karzai said tensions between the United States and Pakistan did not have any impact in his country’s attitude towards Pakistan.
However, Karzai said there was “pain” in Afghanistan over Pakistan’s dealing with his country.
“Please brother, stop using all methods that hurt us and that are now hurting you. Let’s engage from a different platform, a platform in which the two brothers only progress towards a better future in peace and harmony,” he said.
Following the death of Rabbani, Karzai said he would cease attempting to reach out to the Afghan Taliban and instead negotiate directly with Pakistan, saying its military and intelligence services could influence the militants to make peace.
At the same time, Karzai sought to address Pakistan’s concerns about the strategic partnership agreement signed recently by Afghanistan and India, saying the two countries had been working on the pact for years.
“Now, our relation with India, our signing of the strategic partnership with India, it did not happen at the spur of the moment. This is something that we have been working on for years now,” Karzai said. “But the visit (to India) was not after these troubles that took place. It was planned long, long before,” he added. Karzai’s recent visit to India during which New Delhi and Kabul signed a strategic partnership agreement had come amid tensions in Afghanistan’s ties with Pakistan.
Karzai also said that the tensions between the US and Pakistan had not had an impact on Kabul’s attitude towards Islamabad.
Earlier, in a two-day visit to Islamabad, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued stern warnings and asked for more cooperation in winding down the war in Afghanistan, but ruled out “boots on the ground” in North Waziristan, where Washington has been pushing Pakistan to tackle the Haqqani network.
The Haqqani are a group of militants Washington has blamed for a series of attacks on US forces while Pakistan is seen as a critical to the US drive to end the 10 years war in Afghanistan. The TV channel did not say when the interview was conducted. agenciesCourtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk