Khawaja Asif threatens Afghans residing in Pakistan, says 'must go back home' amid clashes with Taliban
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Khawaja Asif threatens Afghans residing in Pakistan, says 'must go back home' amid clashes with Taliban")
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Photograph: (Others)
The Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif went on to target Afghans and said, "Self-respecting nations do not thrive on foreign land and resources".
Amid the ongoing border clashes with Afghanistan Taliban, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday (Oct 17) said that Islamabad is not in a position to maintain relations with Afghanistan, just like in the past and asked all Afghans living in Pakistan to return to their homeland, where they “have their own government". He further said that the Pakistani soil and its resources only belong to the 250 million Pakistanis and not anybody else.
Taking to microblogging site X, Asif wrote "Pakistan can no longer afford to maintain relations with Kabul as it did in the past".
"All Afghans residing on Pakistani soil must return to their homeland; they now have their own government/caliphate in Kabul...Our land and resources belong to 250 million Pakistanis," the minister added.
His remarks came just after the ceasefire between the countries ended at 6pm local time.
Asif did not stop at this as he went on to target Afghans and said, "Self-respecting nations do not thrive on foreign land and resources".
He claimed that Pakistan has made several efforts in last five years to maintain peace with Taliban but the response has not been very positive.
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"Pakistan issued 836 protest notes to the Afghan side and another 13 demarches,” he said and warned "There will no longer be protest notes or appeals for peace; no delegations will go to Kabul. Wherever the source of terrorism lies, it will have to pay a heavy price".
"Ready for a two-front war"
On Friday, Asif in an interview claimed that India "could play dirty at the border" and that Pakistan was ready for a "two-front war". Speaking to Samaa TV on the possibility of India provocations along the border under the current situation (clashes with Taliban) Asif said, "No, absolutely, you cannot rule that out. There are strong possibilities."
On being asked further by the anchor whether the country is prepared for a "two-front war" and has the Prime Minister been consulted on how to deal with it if it happens, the Pakistani Defence Minister said, "Yes, strategies are in place. I can't discuss them publicly, but we are prepared for any eventuality."
