| Major General Babar Iftikhar says situation on 
Pak-Afghan border under control | Believes Taliban leadership will take measures to stop TTP from operating against Pakistan, other countries | India’s role in Afghanistan has been extremely negative

RAWALPINDI  -  Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate Major General Babar Iftikhar on Friday said that the situation on the Pak-Afghan border is “normal and under control” and that the Pakistani side of the border is secure.

Talking to media here, the ISPR DG talked about the evolving situation in Afghanistan and the implied national security problems that Pakistan could face, along with the measures the Armed Forces had taken and would continue to take to “ward off any spillover of insecurity and instability into Pakistan”. 

He said that prior to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the military situation in the war-torn country unfolded rapidly and added that Pakistan had already started taking the measures it needed to guard the Pak-Afghan border and to ensure security. He said that Pakistan had apprehensions that the situation would unfold in the way that it did and there could be a spillover. He recalled that Pakistan had started beefing up its security since 2014, at the time of Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad. 

He said political and military leadership in Pakistan had foresight that something like this could happen. However, he said this does not mean nothing can happen. “We are prepared and won’t be caught unaware,” he added. The purpose of the briefing was to elaborate the evolving situation in the region, especially with reference to Afghanistan and implications for national security.

“Pakistan has done whatever possible in last two decades for regional peace particularly Afghanistan,” DG ISPR said. Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said that any situation in Afghanistan directly impacts Pakistan immediately. He told the media that on different occasions, 94 Afghan soldiers crossed over into Pakistan for safe passage which was granted. He said regular troops have been deployed at almost all the notified crossings for better management and control of movement. He said trade with Afghanistan continues. He said movement was regular at all the notified crossings. “Situation is normal despite challenges without any untoward incident at the border or inside the country. Evacuation flights are continuously landing in Pakistan as 113 flights have landed at Islamabad airport since 15 August,” he added. 

The DG ISPR told the media that the only country beside Afghanistan, victim of Afghan conflict is Pakistan. “Over 86000 lives and economic losses worth of 152 billion dollars in war against terrorism and still counting,” he added.

He said there was no coordination mechanism on the Pak-Afghan border before 2012. He said maximum efforts were made to improve military-to-military coordination with ANA/ANDSF and high level visits were conducted on both sides including the four by the COAS. He said Pakistan offered training to Afghan officers and soldiers in Pakistan training institutions. He especially mentioned that only 6 Afghan cadets were trained at the PMA in Pakistan while hundreds went to India for training and thousands were trained by Indians in Afghanistan.

He said peace in Pakistan is directly linked with peace in Afghanistan. Internal security of Afghanistan directly affects security and stability of Pakistan, he said, and added that Pakistan has made utmost efforts towards a peaceful and strong Afghanistan. “Pakistan’s facilitative role in the Afghan peace process has been appreciated by the world,” he held.

The DG said that Pakistan has repeatedly cautioned the world about the negative role played by spoilers of peace in Afghanistan who for vested interests have been fomenting unrest in Afghanistan. “Pakistan has remained supportive of a graduated and responsible withdrawal to avoid any negative spillover effects on security and stability of Afghanistan. Pakistan has been supportive of peace and stability in Afghanistan so terrorists are denied any freedom of action,” he added.

He further said that to ensure long-term security of Pakistan, the military leadership decided to fence the Pak-Afghan Border. “In line with COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s vision of securing western borders, a comprehensive strategy to manage western borders was formulated in 2017. As per this strategy, work on various important projects was initiated to enforce a comprehensive border management regime,” he said.

The DG ISPR told the media that more than 90 percent of fencing on Pak-Afghan Border has been completed. For this landmark project to complete, many Pak Army jawans have sacrificed their lives for the motherland, he said and added work is also in progress on the Pak-Iran Border. “On the Pak-Afghan border, 1238 border posts / forts exist whereas on Afghan side only 377 posts have been established,” he said. 

He was of the view that Pakistan has maximum stakes in Afghanistan stability and it is Pakistan which has contributed the maximum in this regard also. “Pakistan has defeated terrorism to a great extent with astute strategy, national resolve and immense sacrifices. After two decades we can say that we have fought off this menace as one nation,” he added. 

He also said that Operation Sherdil, Operation Al-Mizan, Operation Rah-e-Rast, Rah-e-Nijat, Zarb-e-Azb, Khyber Operations, Operation Dawatoi; North Waziristan, and the country-wide Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad are an epitome of insurmountable spirit and supreme sacrifices. He said Pakistan Armed Forces were rendering numerous sacrifices for security of CPEC and related projects. 

Coming to the LoC, the DG ISPR said no ceasefire violations have taken place on the LoC since February 2021 after DGs MO hotline contact that was established in line with 2003 Ceasefire Agreement.  

Giving details of the military operations during this period, the DG ISPR said the Armed Forces conducted 1,237 major and minor operations and cleared more than 46,000 sq km area along the western border against terrorists and their infrastructure. He said that Pakistan had been reaching out to the Afghan government to formalise a border control mechanism to deal with the instability along the Pak-Afghan border. 

The DG ISPR said it was important to understand what India’s role had been in Afghanistan. “I think whatever investment they made in Afghanistan and the kind of clout they developed, it was all done with one intention — to harm Pakistan,” he said. 

He said India had “poisoned the minds of the Afghan leadership, military and intelligence” because of which negative statements regarding Pakistan were made by Afghan leadership every time Pakistan reached out. 

 He said Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) was helping Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) cobble together alliances with Daesh, TTP and terrorist organisations to hurt Pakistan.

When asked what steps Pakistan would take if the Afghan Taliban could not control Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the DG ISPR said Pakistan had always maintained that TTP has sanctuaries in Afghanistan with the help of spoilers. He, however, said that the Taliban would not let Afghan soil be used against any other country. 

 The DG ISPR said the Taliban leadership conveyed that they would not let the Afghan soil used against any other country. He said Pakistan believes that they will take measures so that the TTP may not able to operate against Pakistan or any other country.

Responding to another question, he said there was no military-to-military contact with other countries for now. However, reports of India using wild animals to attack and conduct surveillance along the Line of Control (LoC) were concerning, he said. 

 Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said that Defence and Martyrs Day will be commemorated nationwide with traditional zeal and fervour on 6th of September 2021. The theme of Defence and Martyrs Day - 2021 is ‘WATAN KI MATTI GAWAH REHNA’, he told the media.