Peaceful Afghanistan must for regional stability: Pakistan President
Ghulam Haider : Pakistan’s President Dr. Arif Alvi believes that a peaceful Afghanistan will be recipe for the regional prosperity, which is bound to open up new windows of opportunities for the world connectivity with the Central Asian States.
While talking to a select group of media persons during his visit to the UAE, Dr. Alvi reiterated that Pakistan has always advocated as well as endeavoured for peace and stability in Afghanistan as the regional stability is associated with a stable Afghanistan.
“Any unrest in Afghanistan will lead to the pouring in of more refugees in Pakistan. We are a staunch supporters of stability in our next-door neighbouring country. In the same vein, we hope that an ‘inclusive government’ representing all political stakeholders is formed to deliver for the nation building,” Dr Alvi said.
Dr. Arif Alvi strongly dispelled the impression that Islamabad was at the back of the regime change. “We are just helping the Taliban on humanitarian grounds to mitigate the sufferings of the Afghan brethren. We have witnessed capital flight from Pakistan to Afghanistan. We cannot afford unrest in Afghanistan,” he added.
Dr Alvi said that the US withdrawal “a hasty call” and added that he did not foresee any military solution in Afghanistan. “We have always advocated for the backdoor negotiations vis a vis persuading the US to avoiding war. US and NATO forces spent $2.3 trillion in Afghanistan but were unable to ensure stability. How Pakistan alone can achieve the dream of stability,” he asked.
Dr Alvi Pakistan has been host to four million refugees and Islamabad has played a proactive role in diplomats and other peoples repatriation from Afghanistan.
President Alvi said that in the wake of the global pandemic of COVID-19, inflation is on the rise globally and same is the case with Pakistan. “An increase oil and commodities prices has led to global inflation. However, the government of Pakistan is taking steps to control the price hike through various long term and short term measures,” he said.
He said that the government has taken right steps at the right time to overcome serious challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, jobs creation, reviving the economy and maintaining a four per cent GDP growth rate in the last financial year despite the pandemic.
Dr. Arif Alvi said that Expo 2020 is a landmark and offers a unique opportunity to the countries of the region and beyond to establish linkages and partnerships for future needs. “Pakistan has a wonderful pavilion at the Expo to projecting Pakistan’s positive image as a peaceful country. Everyone must visit this pavilion,” he added.