Pakistan in no hurry to recognise Afghan Taliban rule
Pakistan is in no hurry to recognise the Afghan Taliban government, officials said on Saturday days after Russia became the first country to formally accept Taliban controlled Kabul as legitimate dispensation.
Moscow's decision, some observers feel, may be a prelude to other regional countries finally embracing the Taliban.
However, officials in Pakistan said the decision of Russia was not a surprise as Moscow for sometimes had indicated they would reconcile with the fact that the Taliban were now in charge and there was no other option but to accept their rule.
The Russian decision also stems from the fact that greater engagement with the Taliban government would help address terrorist threat and advance its geostrategic interests.
Moscow fears that without engagement with the Taliban government would hand advantage to its adversaries mainly the United States to undermine its interests.
'We of course will take decision keeping in view our interest. I can tell you there is no hurry,' said a Pakistani official when asked whether Islamabad would also recgonize the Taliban rule.
The source, however, did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan taking more pragmatic approach if other regional players follow the Russian footsteps.
At his weekly news briefing on Friday, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan reacted cautiously to Moscow's decision, saying it was a matter of between two sovereign states.
In any case, the source said, Pakistan has robust engagement with the Taliban ruled Kabul. 'The de facto recognition is there,' the source said.
Pakistan, although has given no hinted about officially recognising the Taliban government, agreed to upgrade the diplomat ties. Last month after a trilateral meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Chinese Foreign Ministers meeting in Beijing led Islamabad and Kabul to elevate their diplomatic ties. Both sides are in a process to fulfill the responsibilities before formally appointing Ambassadors in each other's capitals.
China is thought to have played a key role in brokering the deal in the hope that greater engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan would address security concerns.
One of the reasons that Pakistan has not yet recognised the Taliban government is the unresolved issue of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government recently took certain steps, which Pakistan thinks, could make the difference.
One major such move includes the Taliban government's crackdown on Afghan nationals who were joining the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban Amir also issued a fresh decree barring Afghans from so-called 'Jihad' against Pakistan.
There were also reports that the Taliban government after recent terrorist attacks in North Waziristan started disarming groups living close to the border.
Sources said that it is in Taliban's interest to address security concerns of Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the visit of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul are gradually improving with increased exchanges.
Afghan Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is expected to travel to Islamabad later this month. He was to visit Pakistan last month but the trip was delayed due to Iran-Israel war. During his visit, the two sides would review bilateral ties and decisions taken when Dar was in Kabul in April.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Youm-e-Ashur being observed with due solemnity
Youm-e-Ashur, the tenth of Muharram-ul-Haram, is being observed on Sunday across the country with due solemnity and respect to pay homage to the supreme sacrifice rendered by Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his devoted companions in Karbala, Radio Pakistan reported. The unmatched sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions conveyed a powerful message of protecting the true spirit of Islam. Mourning processions are being taken out in all cities and towns of the country to remember this eternal martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Ulema and Zakireen will highlight the bright and candid teachings of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and various aspects of Karbla tragedy. Elaborate security arrangements have been made across the country to maintain law and order and avoid any untoward incident during the mourning processions.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Students of tomorrow — a teacher's thoughts
Having taught sociology for fourteen years at the high school level in Pakistan, I have found many of my students to be lacking in three areas in particular; originality of thought, lack of analytical output in the class and indifference to the value of the social sciences. The three problems identified above are not only restricted to the private sector of primary and high school education in Pakistan but are more acute in the country's public schools and colleges. Our students need to be inspired by teachers themselves to come up with original ideas and innovative thoughts. While having classroom discussions with them on a variety of issues from rising divorce rates in Pakistani society to the qualitative input which might be of use in designing a research outlay for a school project, I have found many of them to be restricted in their thinking and consequently, in their effort put into the particular task. This can be due to, amongst other factors, the years of social conditioning by both their families and households and the society that they witness. To counter this, a teacher must know that students in the vital age group of 10-16 must not be held back in their creative and valuable contributions to class discussions. The administrative hierarchy of educational administrators should realise this too. At the same time, students must realise that it is important to not only be novel in the presentation of an idea to the class but that it should also be analytically worthy of thoughtful reflection. For that, they will have to forget stereotypical images, centred on class, gender, racial and ethnic divisions and preconceived (and untrue) notions of what it means to be a human in relationship to the society around us in the modern/postmodern world of today. This is the task that teachers of today need to be well aware of, if they want to guide the original minds of tomorrow. Beautiful minds such as Stephen Hawkings, John Nash and Sayyed Hossein Nasr of today and Leo Tolstoy, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Rabindranath Tagore of yesteryears need to be taken on board to build a 'collective conscience' for the world of tomorrow. Poets such as Hu Shi, Yosano Akiko, Goethe, Wordsworth and Iqbal must be read and reread if we are to succeed in this huge task in front of us. Shakespeare must be contextualised in the Pakistani society around us if the country's students of today are to build bridges of understanding and humanity with the world of tomorrow. In this world, knowledge should not have a 'price tag' and it must be imparted for the intrinsic good it entails. They should be made to understand how curiosity, guided in the right direction, leads to an inquisitive mindset, which knows no boundaries at all, when it comes to reaching the frontiers of information. This yearning for knowledge must be nurtured and respected both within and outside the country's classrooms. Lastly, the need for us to understand the value of social sciences and social scientists for today's Pakistan. Social sciences need to be emphasised as very important if the Pakistani state and its future (the students of today) are to take head-on the challenges that afflict the nation and the obscure mindset of its citizens today. Social sciences such as economics, sociology and liberal arts subjects such as historiography have built nations. Unfortunately, Pakistani academia has yet to realise the full potential of an education in social sciences. Our students need to be liberated from the conventional paradigm of a sciences-commerce duality and need to be made to understand the primacy of social sciences in today's world. As AI transforms the education sector today, social sciences offer a huge insider view of the changes that will be wrought on the education sector both within and outside the classroom. It offers us a window into the view that society will be massively impacted by the new information age and in order to succeed in this information age, students will have to decouple themselves from conventional ideas of classroom education. Social sciences are bound to offer careers of tomorrow ranging from research, academia and the changing face of government and public policy. And the human will stand at the primal chord of these massive societal fissures. Appropriate would it be that Pakistani students recognise the potential of this huge transformation. Lastly, ethics will be a fundamental part of this new scope of education. Pakistani parents, teachers and the students themselves should be made to remember this valuable lesson. It means that education and the process of imparting it in Pakistan must have an ethical angle too. Ethics and morality do play an important part in all didactic goals and this aspect of education can no longer be ignored, especially in the age of AI. If it is considered, then education should be imparted in a value-free way (perfection over here cannot be reached) since all positive philosophy, interactionist experiments and laboratory products need to be associated with the 'Ultimate Good', that is, the pursuit of education for its intrinsic worth. Ethics and morality infused with humanism will go a long way to answer the gripping questions that are bound to emerge in the society of tomorrow. In this discourse, education cannot be constrained from ethics and a humanistic pedagogy. For instance, taking just one cue of the question of what knowledge is, in the future will involve a lot of ethical dilemmas and queries. There needs to be given a global perspective to education in Pakistan today. If it is not granted, then historiography will remain scribe versions of actual history, geography will continue to ignore significant monuments of interest to the geologist of the future and the social sciences will miss out on the things that need to be 'taught' in a classroom environment. The coming world of education will ask us fundamental questions of what knowledge is, how should it be pursued and what it means to be a knowledgeable human. AI will transform the education sector and the world beyond education to a huge degree. In this sense, our students need to be made aware of the challenges of tomorrow and the innovative and engaging ways to overcome them. It is an age of knowledge. And knowledge will remain powerful in this age. Taimur Arbab is a teacher of Sociology and a writer based in Karachi All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the author
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Pakistan in no hurry to recognise Afghan Taliban rule
Listen to article Pakistan is in no hurry to recognise the Afghan Taliban government, officials said on Saturday days after Russia became the first country to formally accept Taliban controlled Kabul as legitimate dispensation. Moscow's decision, some observers feel, may be a prelude to other regional countries finally embracing the Taliban. However, officials in Pakistan said the decision of Russia was not a surprise as Moscow for sometimes had indicated they would reconcile with the fact that the Taliban were now in charge and there was no other option but to accept their rule. The Russian decision also stems from the fact that greater engagement with the Taliban government would help address terrorist threat and advance its geostrategic interests. Moscow fears that without engagement with the Taliban government would hand advantage to its adversaries mainly the United States to undermine its interests. 'We of course will take decision keeping in view our interest. I can tell you there is no hurry,' said a Pakistani official when asked whether Islamabad would also recgonize the Taliban rule. The source, however, did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan taking more pragmatic approach if other regional players follow the Russian footsteps. At his weekly news briefing on Friday, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan reacted cautiously to Moscow's decision, saying it was a matter of between two sovereign states. In any case, the source said, Pakistan has robust engagement with the Taliban ruled Kabul. 'The de facto recognition is there,' the source said. Pakistan, although has given no hinted about officially recognising the Taliban government, agreed to upgrade the diplomat ties. Last month after a trilateral meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Chinese Foreign Ministers meeting in Beijing led Islamabad and Kabul to elevate their diplomatic ties. Both sides are in a process to fulfill the responsibilities before formally appointing Ambassadors in each other's capitals. China is thought to have played a key role in brokering the deal in the hope that greater engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan would address security concerns. One of the reasons that Pakistan has not yet recognised the Taliban government is the unresolved issue of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan. The Afghan government recently took certain steps, which Pakistan thinks, could make the difference. One major such move includes the Taliban government's crackdown on Afghan nationals who were joining the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban Amir also issued a fresh decree barring Afghans from so-called 'Jihad' against Pakistan. There were also reports that the Taliban government after recent terrorist attacks in North Waziristan started disarming groups living close to the border. Sources said that it is in Taliban's interest to address security concerns of Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the visit of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul are gradually improving with increased exchanges. Afghan Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is expected to travel to Islamabad later this month. He was to visit Pakistan last month but the trip was delayed due to Iran-Israel war. During his visit, the two sides would review bilateral ties and decisions taken when Dar was in Kabul in April.
