Analysts feel Int’l opposition to accept Taliban govt can be problematical 

Senior journalists and political analysts Saturday warned that the international opposition to accept the Taliban government could be troublesome for Afghanistan.

During 24NewsHD programme – DNA –noted figures, Salim Bokhari, PJ Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Javed Iqbal, urged the Taliban to give full attention to form a government comprising of all stakeholders.

Saleem Bukhari said the delay in the formation of the Taliban government could lead to internal turmoil and external interference in Afghanistan so they should form it as soon as possible.

Talking about the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed's visit to Kabul, Saleem Bukhari said that the Pakistani delegation would meet with the Afghan Taliban to discuss issues such as border security, evacuation of foreigners and assist them in policymaking.

He said the Afghan army had disintegrated and there was an urgent need for reorganization of the security agencies because the abundant weapons left by the United States and its allies must be handed over in safe and responsible hands.

Saleem Bukhari said the USA demanded Pakistan for help against the Daish and Al-Qaeda but Pakistan had its own priorities.

"Western powers cannot talk to the Taliban directly without us, we have to act as a bridge between them," Saleem Bukhari said.

 PJ Mir said that there were some internal and external reasons for delaying the formation of the government.

He said there was no clear position on recognizing the Taliban government, including in Britain, and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Robb during his visit to Pakistan urged not to recognize the Taliban government that could be problematic for them. And, he added that an unrecognized government would also be deprived of foreign funding or assistance. He also said that whether Punjshir Valley was fall or not but Pakistan needed peace in Afghanistan.

Iftikhar Ahmed said that the Taliban should form the government urgently as the world used to go in dialogue with the governments against the negotiations with a group or individuals. He said he wanted that Pakistan’s borders from the Afghan side should be crossed as borders were being crossed around the world.

Javed Iqbal said the world wanted to use us with reference to the Taliban as Pakistan had a key strategical role in the region.

Discussing the issue of USA policies, Iftikhar Ahmed said that President Ford had predicted that a woman would become the President of America. To which PJ Mir said Americans were fully tired of spending sums on wars and Biden would do, what the public felt.

Javed Iqbal said due to engagements in wars China's economy had become much stronger than the United States.

The panel also discussed the difficulties faced by the people due to the government's purchase of expensive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and the fact that the inflation rate had reached 12 percent.

PJ Mir revealed that the Prime Minister has a report in which Iqbal Z Ahmed has said that the government will not be harmed in the purchase of LNG. To which Iftikhar Ahmed said that the government had already lost Rs 83 billion in the last three months.

The panel said more than 2,400 faulty cameras of the Lahore Safe City Authority were the cause of the insecurity and rising of crime in Lahore.

Report: Nadeem Anjum