All Taliban regardless of distinction pose major threat to Pak: Haqqani

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani has said that though Islamabad considers the Taliban as a major threat to its security, the menace can not be countered through military means only.

In an interview to a foreign media house, Haqqani said that for the Pakistan government there is no distinction between the Taliban and the Punjabi Taliban, and all such organisations pose a threat to the state.

“We make no distinction. We judge them by their actions. Those that are engaged in terrorist actions, those that pursue the course of militancy, those that attack our army or the armies of our neighbours, in Afghanistan, and our allies, we consider them all a threat. The only question has been in what sequence should we deal with them militarily,” The News quoted Haqqani, as saying.

“We also believe, there is no purely military solution to the problem, that there also has to be a socio-economic and a political dimension to the problem,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding Pakistan’s backing of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s reconciliation efforts, Haqqani said Islamabad has always considered Kabul key to its strategic objectives.

“Pakistan has made it clear that we consider the stability of Afghanistan as crucial to our policy objectives, we do not want Afghanistan to be used as terrorists safe haven against us or against any other country in the world, and we, therefore, defer to the government of Afghanistan in making decisions as to whom they engage in reconciliation talks with,” Haqqani said. (ANI)