Women’s Education Issue Makes Relations ‘Difficult’: Zardari
The foreign minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said “it’s becoming incredibly difficult for me or others like me who do want to engage” with the Islamic Emirate, after referring to “what’s happened with women’s education and their right to access education.”
Speaking on the US program The Daily Show, Zardari said that there has been a “steady uptick of terrorist activity in Pakistan” since the fall of Kabul.
“The more the economic situation deteriorates in Afghanistan, the more cannon fodder the terrorist groups over there are going to have, the more people they are going to be able to recruit to their cause,” he said.
“If there is a regime that says that girls can’t get an education in Afghanistan, it’s not going to be too long till politicians are going to start popping up in my neck of the woods saying that we should also not let girls have access to education,” he added.
But the Islamic Emirate reiterated that there will be no threat from the Afghan soil to any country and that the caretaker government wants peace in the region.
“There is no threat from the Afghan soil. The Islamic Emirate considers security important in its country, and it wants security in the regional and neighboring countries as well. Peace and stability in the region benefits all sides,” Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.
The analysts give various opinions on the topic:
“For what Pakistan is saying, it is not committed. It doesn’t have honesty. In various aspects, Pakistan has always tried to introduce Afghanistan as a source of problems to the region and introduce itself as a key to solving of the problems,” said Sayed Jawad Sijadi, a university instructor.
“Pakistan has always sought its own interest via Afghanistan. Despite Pakistan’s support for the Taliban’s war against the republic government and foreign troops in Afghanistan, but it is now considering the political isolation of Afghanistan on its benefits,” said Nematullah Bizhan, international relations analyst.
Earlier, Zardari urged the Islamic Emirate to fulfil its promises made for the international community and people of Afghanistan.