Afghan Former Pres Hamid Karzai Backs Modi on Balochistan

Karzai appealed to Pakistan to join hands with Afghanistan in addressing problems “without use of radicalism.”

Afghanistans former president Hamid Karzai speaks on “Regional Power Play and the Rise of Radicalism in Afghanistan” in New Delhi on Saturday. (Photo: PTI) 

Former President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the issue in Baluchistan saying that Afghanistan appreciates and understands the problem of human rights abuses.

The issue of Balochistan is something that we commiserate and we understand. We appreciate the remarks of the Prime Minister of India.

Watch Hamid Karzai speak on the issue of human rights abuse in Pakistan.

“The people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days,” Modi had said in his Independence Day speech, adding that he would take up the cause of Baloch people who have been facing repression in the hands of the Pakistani government.

During a visit to Delhi, Karzai said that the region shouldn’t go to proxy wars and maintain its tradition of peaceful coexistence.

Speaking to The Hindu, Karzai said:

In Balochistan there is extreme suffering at the hands of extremists promoted by state structures in Pakistan. Therefore the people’s concerns need to be addressed and aired.

The Prime Minister’s statements did not go down well with Pakistan. Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, said that the references to Balochistan were attempts to divert attention from “the grim tragedy that has been unfolding in the Indian-occupied Kashmir over the past five weeks.”

About spread of dreaded terror outfit Islamic State, he said IS is a “sinister” tool, adding tomorrow it will be against the ones using it.

He said Afghanistan and all its neighbouring countries must work together to combat IS. “Today I can use it, tomorrow I can discard it. That’s a very dangerous strategy,” he said, while asking Pakistan to deal with terror groups firmly.

He said religion and aspirations to be a democratic country have nothing to do with one another. In an apparent reference to Pakistan, he rejected promotion of religion as an “instrument of foreign policy”.

Karzai appealed to Pakistan to join hands with Afghanistan in addressing various problems “without use of radicalism.”

(Source: ANI, The Hindu, PTI)

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