Afghanistan Recalls Ambassador To Pakistan After Imran Khan’s ‘Irresponsible Remarks’

The Afghan government has recalled its ambassador to Pakistan over what it says were ‘irresponsible’ remarks made by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, reports Reuters.

Khan had earlier stated before Pakistani media that Afghanistan should set up an interim government in order to facilitate peace talks between the Taliban and the US.

Khan suggested the move with the reasoning that the Islamist group had rejected speaking with the current government of Afghanistan.

“The Afghan government was a hurdle in (the) peace process that was insisting that Taliban should talk to it,” the Pakistani prime minister stated.

Khan also revealed that he had shelved a planned meeting with Taliban leaders due to objections raised by the Afghan government.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi termed the remarks as “an obvious example of Pakistan’s interventional policy and disrespect to the national sovereignty and determination of the people of Afghanistan."

Pakistan’s deputy ambassador has also been summoned by Afghanistan to give an explanation for the said remarks.

US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, who is heading the negotiations with the Taliban, also took Kabul’s side in the dispute, taking to Twitter to state that even as Pakistan has made ‘constructive contributions’ to the Afghan peace process, the same could not be said of Khan’s comments.