WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister wants world to engage Taliban, warning of dangerous consequences if Afghanistan’s rulers are again isolated.

In an interview with AFP on a visit to Washington, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari cautioned against creating “parallel governance” after United States, distrustful of Taliban, put Afghanistan’s frozen assets in a professional fund in Switzerland. “We’ve learned from past that when we wash our hands and turn our backs, we end up creating unintended consequences and more problems for ourselves,” Bilawal said. “I believe that our concerns of an economic collapse, of an exodus of refugees, of a threat of new recruits for organisations such as Daesh and others, outweigh concerns that there may be about their financial institutions.”

But he said militants needed “political space” on concerns such as women’s rights, which have been sharply curtailed. “Throughout history, theocratic, autocratic regimes haven’t exactly tended to expand rights at times of economic strife,” he said. “In fact, they tend to hold on to cultural issues and other issues to engage their population.”

At a meeting, Monday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised long-term support. In a message less welcome by Pakistan, top US diplomat also called on Islamabad to ask China to restructure debt accumulated as Beijing builds billions of dollars of infrastructure in a quest for Indian Ocean port access. Asked about Blinken’s remarks, Bilawal said he has had “very productive conversations” with China and said he hoped that assistance after historic floods “does not fall prey to great power rivalries and geostrategic issues.” With Beijing seen by many Pakistanis as an uncritical ally, successive governments in Islamabad have rebuffed US calls to weigh in on mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim people, a campaign Washington calls genocide.

“I’m sure that United States would like for us to comment more on China’s internal affairs,” Bilawal said. “But maybe if we start by addressing disputes that are recognised by bodies such as United Nations as disputes of an international nature, that would be more productive.” He was referring to Kashmir, Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan and trigger for two of their three full-fledged wars. Bilawal recalled that when his PPP was in power in 2010, it moved to open trade with India, then led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

“We were willing to take political risk, stick our necks on line and touch third rail of Pakistani politics but because we knew that there was  a rational, reasonable player on other end who would perhaps be willing to reciprocate,” Bilawal said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 29 2022

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