Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that there is “no other alternative to Taliban in Afghanistan,” so the “only option the world has right now is to engage with the Taliban for things to move forward.”

In an exclusive interview with Fareed Fareed Zakaria for CNN, talking about Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, he said that sooner or later, the Taliban will have to be recognised by the world as it is about the well-being and future of about 40 million Afghans.

“Afghanistan is on the verge of experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis,” PM Imran Khan said. “Considering the circumstances, is there any other alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan? No, there isn’t.”

A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis.

“Forty million people in Afghanistan are in dire straits because of the ongoing situation in the country,” said Khan, adding that the people of the US should understand that disliking the Taliban government is one thing but thinking about the welfare of the Afghans is another as they are facing “extreme difficulties.”

Supporting the Taliban, Khan questioned how would it be beneficial for the people of Afghanistan if the Taliban government is overthrown.

“Therefore, the only alternative we have is to work with the Taliban government [for the sake of the Afghans] because turning the Taliban away would only lead to chaos in the country,” PM Imran Khan reiterated.

It has been nearly six months after the Taliban recaptured power in Afghanistan but they have not been recognized by any country yet.

Taliban, who are desperate to seek international recognition, and have time and again been reminded that respect for women and human rights, establishing inclusive government, not allowing Afghanistan to become a safe haven of terrorism are the preconditions for the recognition set by the international community.

Regarding Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Khan said that Pakistan already has three million Afghan refugees so the country does not have the capacity to accept more.

With more and more Afghan civilians attempting to cross borders into neighbouring countries to escape the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan has warned that it cannot bear the burden of hosting more Afghan refugees.
He also urged the world community to release the frozen assets of Afghanistan and engage with the Taliban administration and provide humanitarian assistance to prevent an “economic collapse” of the country.

“The Afghan people are being severely affected by the non-recognition of the Taliban government and the freezing of their banking system,” Khan said.

US President Joe Biden on Friday decided to split USD 7 billion of the frozen Afghan assets to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

He went on to say that the US “war on terror” backfired and increased the number of terrorists worldwide, adding that because of the war, there had been extensive casualties in Pakistan as more than 80,000 Pakistani citizens lost their lives during the war.

“Pakistan had to bear the brunt of the war in Afghanistan by witnessing numerous suicide attacks,” he said. “The US must reconsider its policy on carrying out drone attacks.”

However, Pakistan has been criticized globally particularly by the US that its has been playing a double game, supporting the Taliban, while showing America that it is helping them in the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, the bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Taliban are turning hostile over the issue of Durand Line and cross-border “terror activities” of groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against Islamabad.

Taliban has not accepted the Durand Line as the ‘official’ boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There have been frequent skirmishes between Taliban and Pak security forces along the border after the fall of Kabul in August 2021.

Also, Pakistan fears that the Taliban’s inaction against anti-Pakistan militants in Afghanistan could prove fatal to the country’s internal security and may also fuel the fire to secessionist sentiments among the Pashtun population.

Meanwhile, all the unresolved issues such as the border fencing, reconciliation process with TTP, and alleged cross-border terror attacks against Pakistan are negatively impacting the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.