Imran Khan's role in helping with the Afghan evacuations lauded

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. Tomorrow on radio I will share the letters exchanged between me and the prime minister of Pakistan. In the hour of desperate need I reached out in the hopes that some sort of leadership could be found to help us do the impossible. <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ImranKhanPTI</a> Con’t <a href="https://t.co/qyCTtBCJo4">pic.twitter.com/qyCTtBCJo4</a></p>— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1439724800411381765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


2. We reached out and asked numerous leaders in political and civil society around the world for help. The silence was shocking as was the outpouring help on a humanitarian basis. Some calls and requests received a simple yes or no, some went unanswered but …. CON’T

3. we received an immediate response to our requests from Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan who then acted on his willingness to assist.Collectively, we transcended religious differences, political divides, national boundaries and local dynamics - it was about a humanitarian

4. effort aimed at saving innocent victims facing certain death if left behind in a war ravaged country where misunderstanding and suspicion take priority at present. He took the lead to save innocent lives irrespective of politics, race, religion or culture. Con’t

5. No other global leader that we have seen, took such an initiative to leverage his/her position to save the innocent putting humanity before politics and showing how much the great faiths have in common on the bridge of compassion. Don’t

6. He has been gracious with his time and never once questioned our motives. We have spoken about our different faiths and how when truly executed in their highest form, innocent life must be protected and saved. CON’t

7. PM Khan quickly asked his people to intervene on our behalf and was able to make the difference between life and death for those on board the first three aircraft to leave Mazar e Sharif in Afghanistan with nearly a thousand civilians on board. MANY of them are Americans. -

8. Because of his tireless leadership and support from the military and civilian resource of Pakistan, three planes were released by the Taliban, who have been businesslike in their responses to adhere to their agreement to let civilian allies of the NATO forces leave the country

9. You will be reading a lot over the next few days of people that have left Afghanistan in the last 24 hours. Some of the stories will have a global tale to tell, some will be welcomed home by family and friends, some will land in a country where they have no friends. Con’t

10. Each of their lives are worth the time, energy, money, passion and love spent by so many people, organizations and the PM of Pakistan. Other media outlets may have their own agenda for criticizing him over the last few days, don’t

11. but he should be recognized for the lives he helped save this weekend.I sincerely thank him and pray he continues to help us work to to build a bridge with the common interest of protecting innocent, precious lives during this humanitarian effort. The United States should ..

12. collectively recognise Pakistan's assistance at this juncture. We will not allow anyone to forget this moment that enabled America and its allies to make good on their promises to those that helped them without pause or reflection.
More tomorrow

13. Let no one fool you, the #FIFA #AfghanWomen #Olympic #soccer team. Are out because of YOU and #ImranKhan

 

[MenInG]

US television host Glenn Beck, whose charity organisation has been assisting with evacuations from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday for his support to the cause and help in getting people — including Afghan female footballers — out of the war-torn country.

In a statement on Twitter, Beck said that he would share the details of the correspondence between him and PM Imran on the radio the next day, and thanked the premier as well as the people of Pakistan.

"We reached out and asked numerous leaders and civil societies around the world for help and Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan responded with determination and without hesitation," Beck said.

Earlier this month, Newsweek, an American weekly magazine, had reported that six planes chartered by Beck's charity, Mercury One, "seeking to evacuate at least 1,000 people—including more than 100 Americans ... have been grounded by the Taliban" in the Mazar-i-Sharif city.

Beck's statement today said that the support from PM Imran and Pakistan's military and civilian resources under his leadership and "their ability to cooperate with the Taliban, has enabled the first two flights to depart Mazar-i-Sharif with FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) female athletes and their families on board."

In a separate tweet, he said that Pakistan's leadership helped with the release and departure of three flights overall.

Appreciating the prime minister, Beck said that Prime Minister Imran's "leadership of placing humanity before politics is a great example of inter-faith cooperation between the faiths, bridged by the shared value of human compassion".

"Pakistan has once again proven to be a valued partner in all seasons for the United States, despite recent criticisms from some sections of US media," he said. "We look forward to the ongoing continued cooperation in the coming weeks as we continue our common goal of protecting the innocent during this humanitarian effort."

He added that the US should recognise Pakistan's assistance at this juncture: "We will not forget this support that has enabled America and its allies to make good on their promises to those who helped them without pause or reflection."

Beck said "no other global leader that we have seen, took such an initiative to leverage his/her position to save the innocent putting humanity before politics."

"He (PM Imran) has been gracious with his time and never once questioned our motives," he added.

Beck said that "media outlets may have their own agenda for criticising him (PM Imran) over the last few days, but he should be recognised for the lives he helped save this weekend."

Since the US withdrawal of Afghanistan, Pakistan has been playing an active role in facilitating evacuation efforts.

In a recent development in this connection, Afghan footballers belonging to the national junior girls' team and their families were allowed to cross the Torkham border to reach Pakistan after the government issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them from their country.

Prior to this, the Foreign Office (FO) had said in a statement that Pakistan remained deeply engaged with the international community since the Taliban took over of Afghanistan, with much of this engagement focused on the evacuation of foreigners and vulnerable Afghans.

The statement, issued on Sept 2, said some 12,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan with Pakistan’s assistance until then.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1647406/u...ran-pakistan-for-help-with-afghan-evacuations

 

[MenInG]

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the international community cannot "exonerate" itself from its responsibilities towards the Afghan people after 20 years of military intervention in the war-torn country and urged the same countries to stay engaged with Kabul.

In an interview with foreign magazine Newsweek, the premier said decades of war has had a devastating impact on Afghanistan's economy, society, and polity and there is a "ray of hope" to bring peace and stability to the country and the broader region.

The premier, however, warned that if rivalry persists with Afghanistan and between global and regional powers, it could lead to more suffering and conflict in Afghanistan.

"This would create new flow of refugees, escalate the threat of terrorism from Afghanistan, and destabilize the entire region."

"The last thing Pakistan wants is more conflict and turbulence in Afghanistan," reiterated the premier, adding that it is Islamabad's hope that the country would be "stabilized, through humanitarian help, economic support, and connectivity and infrastructure projects, and that the US, China and Russia will all contribute to pacifying and reconstructing Afghanistan".

Read Don’t repeat past mistakes, Qureshi tells Blinken

Imran also said that both Pakistan and the United States need to prevent terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and should cooperate in stabilising the war-torn country.

The premier added that the US had "divested a liability", its costly military intervention in the landlocked country, as the military presence was "not a strategic priority" for Washington.

Imran urged the US to cooperate with Islamabad and help stabilise Afghanistan by addressing the humanitarian crisis in the country and supporting the Afghan economy.

"Both Pakistan and the United States need to prevent terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. To this end, we should cooperate to help in stabilizing Afghanistan by addressing the humanitarian crisis in that country and supporting its economic recovery."

The prime minister further said that he does not think the chaotic withdrawal of US armed forces will have a negative effect on Washington's credibilty in the long term but there may be "an immediate negative impact in the US".

"I don't think that the US withdrawal will erode US credibility globally in the long term."

US-India relations

When asked about the now close defence ties between India and the US, the prime minister said that Islamabad understands its a strategy to "contain China, including through the so-called Quad".

However, he said Pakistan has its own views on the credibility of this strategy and "India will never confront China, especially not to serve US strategic objectives".

He maintained that Indian rearmament is geared towards regional hegemony and "seventy percent of all Indian military capabilities are deployed against Pakistan, not China".

"Therefore, Pakistan has legitimate concerns about the provision of the most advanced weapons and technology to India. Apart from increasing the likelihood of a conflict, an arms race in South Asia will divert both India and Pakistan from investing in socio-economic development and the welfare of their people," said the premier.

Pak-China relations

Commenting on whether Pakistan will be caught up in the broader US-China rivalry considering its close relationship with the latter, PM Imran stated that Islamabad saw no reason in its ability to have a cooperative relationship with the US to be impacted by its partnership with China.

The premier stated that: "Pakistan's relationship with China is 70 years old. It covers economic, technological, military and other sectors. Throughout this time, Pakistan has simultaneously maintained a close relationship with the United States as well. Indeed, it was Pakistan which first brought the US and China together in 1971."

Furthermore, speaking of concerns over the pace of progress on CPEC projects slowing, PM Imran stated that the Covid-19 pandemic may have slowed down the progress of the project.

However, he added that, "China had already invested around 25 billion dollars under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)", and that projects worth 20 billion were under implementation. He further stated that "projects worth a further 25 billion dollars are in the pipeline".

Imran added that Pakistan has welcomed the ‘Build Back Better World’ initiative of the US and G-7. He said Pakistan doesn’t see this initiative as a rival of China’s BRI project, adding, “It is an initiative which can contribute to building the infrastructure and other projects which are so vital to enable developing countries to achieve their development objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Speaking about the two-decade-long war on terror spearheaded by the US, the PM said the Pakistan-US counter-terrorism cooperation had successfully decimated al Qaeda, the outfit responsible for 9/11 attacks, from Afghanistan, but the war hasn’t been a success.

He said the root causes of terrorism were not addressed and that resulted in the “proliferation” of the ideology of the terrorist outfits across several regions of the world, including Africa.

The premier also linked the war on terror to the rise in anti-Muslim sentiments in the world, especially the West.

“We see the strongest manifestation of such Islamophobia in India's extremist Hindutva ideology, which has unleashed state-sponsored terrorism against the Muslims of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the 200 million Indian Muslim "minority."

According to the premier, there was a need to chalk out “a new and comprehensive” counterterrorism strategy” to address the terror threat faced by the world now.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/232174...responsibilities-towards-afghanistan-pm-imran