Slamming Pakistan for saying India has “no role” in Afghanistan; MEA says, ‘You cannot decide position of another country’

New Delhi, January 19: Slamming Pakistan once again, India rubbishes Pakistan’s contention that India has “no role” in Afghanistan, and made it clear that Islamabad could not decide the position of another country in regional or global affairs.

 

As a stern reply to Pakistan, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “It is not for Pakistan to decide as to what role another country has in regional or global affairs. Pakistan also cannot decide on behalf of an independent and sovereign country, Afghanistan, and dictate to them as to how to conduct their foreign policy.”

The statement came after Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal, while responding to a question on US President Donald Trump’s remarks about India playing a role in the war-torn country, had said on Thursday: “India has no role in Afghanistan.”

Adding further Spokesperson Kumar said Pakistan should instead “introspect its own role and responsibility in the precarious situation in Afghanistan; put an end to all kind of support to cross-border terrorism from territories under Pakistan’s control, and join international efforts to bring inclusive peace to Afghanistan”.

On January 13, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her counterparts from six Central Asian states had said they would promote an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process and reconciliation.

Both Kabul and New Delhi have asserted Islamabad for backing terror groups such as the Taliban and Haqqani Network that are active in Afghanistan. India has also conveyed its concerns about Pakistan’s “destabilising role” in Afghanistan to the US and other allies. Concern has grown in New Delhi over the past few weeks over Islamabad’s efforts to shape the process for talks with the Taliban, whose leadership is based in Pakistan.