There Cannot Be Two Foreign Policies in One Country; PTI Maintained Contacts with the Banned TTP, Asserts Information Minister Attaullah Tarar
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has said that a sovereign nation cannot have two foreign policies, alleging the previous government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had continued to engage with banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and he promised to submit concrete proof in this case.
The information minister said the security situation in KP had turned into a “red-alert” situation which required a “one nation one counterterrorism” strategy when he met the Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar in Islamabad while addressing an international media briefing.
The following were key points in the briefing by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Contradictory Foreign Policies Unacceptable: Tarar said that the federation always demands Afghanistan to stop cross border militancy, however, a policy opposite to this is unacceptable for the provincial government. The federal government repeatedly tried to reach an agreement with the provincial set-up, but without success, he said.
Nexus Between Politics, Terrorism and Crime: Tarar has pointed out that the provincial government, disinterested in the war on terror, was found guilty of creating a dangerous nexus between politics, terrorism and organized crime in KP and ramping up cross border smuggling of timber, tobacco, minerals, gold and precious stones, which allegedly helped militant groups.
Misuse of National Finance Commission Funds: Information minister highlighted financial allocations, the K-PAK was getting about Rs800 billion from National Finance Commission (NFC). He asked how these huge resources were not being used to build up the counter-terrorism units, install safe city cameras, set up forensic labs, arm police with modern weapons or combat violent extremism.
Tribute to Police and New Development Councils: Tarar announced an Area Representative and Development Council across 12 districts of KP to ensure there is balanced representation of tribes, restore law enforcement capabilities and speed up grassroots development, commending the unmatched sacrifices of KP Police, while mentioning DSP Shinwari etc.