Give Taliban "Time" To Fulfil Human Rights Promises: Pak PM Imran Khan

Imran Khan said, "It's a mistake to think that someone from outside will give Afghan women rights.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the world should give Taliban “time” to form a legitimate government and fulfil their human rights promises.

(Photo: The Quint)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the world should give Taliban “time” to form a legitimate government and fulfil their human rights promises.

Speaking to the CNN for the first time since time since the terrorist group took over Afghanistan, Khan said that the best way forward for peace and stability in the country is to “incentivise” them.

He claimed that the Taliban are looking for international aid to avoid a crisis, which could be used to push the group in "the right direction". But at the same time, he said that the country cannot be controlled by outside forces.

"No puppet government in Afghanistan is supported by the people. So rather than sitting here and thinking that we can control them, we should incentivize them. Because Afghanistan, this current government, clearly feels that without international aid and help, they will not be able to stop this crisis. So we should push them in the right direction."

Imran Khan, Pakistan Prime Minister

He said that if the situation is not handled delicately then it could trigger the biggest humanitarian crisis.

"The Taliban hold all of Afghanistan and if they can sort of now work towards an inclusive government, get all the factions together, Afghanistan could have peace after 40 years. But if it goes wrong and which is what we are really worried about, it could go to chaos. The biggest humanitarian crisis, a huge refugee problem," Khan said.

'Afghan Women Will Get Their Rights'

However, for women and other minorities, the re-capture of Afghanistan has already brought in a humanitarian crisis with citizens facing an erosion of their rights.

Despite its pledges to work for women's rights and inclusivity, the Taliban has gone back to its old radical ways and ordered a gendered segregation in classrooms. They have also reportedly whipped women who were protesting against an all-male interim government.

But Khan said, "It's a mistake to think that someone from outside will give Afghan women rights. Afghan women are strong. Give them time. They will get their rights."

"Women should have the ability in a society to fulfill their potential in life. In Pakistan, what we have done is we have actually paid stipends to poor families to get the girls to study in school because we feel that if the girls, if the girl child studies, if they have education, they will get their own rights," he said.

'Pakistan is Like a Hired Gun for US'

Khan who had previously criticized the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan said he has not spoken with President Joe Biden since the Taliban takeover.

"I would imagine he's (Joe Biden) very busy, but our relationship with the US is not just dependent on a phone call, it needs to be a multidimensional relationship," Imran Kahn said.

"We (Pakistan) were like a hired gun," Khan said. "We were supposed to make them (the US) win the war in Afghanistan, which we never could."

Commenting on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's remarks about Pakistan's "multiplicity of interests some that are in conflict with ours (US)", Khan said, "I have never heard such ignorance."

Responding to allegations that Pakistan has harboured terrorists in the country, Khan asked, "The question is, was Pakistan in a position to take military action against the Afghan Taliban when it was already being attacked from inside, from the Pakistani Taliban who were attacking the state of Pakistan?"