Won’t accept more Afghan refugees: Pakistan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan has underlined the need for making arrangements to keep displaced Afghans inside their country.

Islamabad did not have the resources to host more refugees from Afghanistan. National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf told reporters in Washington on Saturday.

He said it was the responsibility of the international community to create a secure area inside the war-torn country for IDPs.

“Why make them homeless? Make arrangement for them inside their country. Pakistan does not have the capacity to take more refugees,” the NSA remarked.

Yousaf scorned the suggestion that Pakistan still had the influence to force the Taliban to do what they did not want.

He added: “We have only minimal leverage. If we had the influence some say we do, we would have stopped them from destroying the Bamiyan Buddha in the 1990s.”

The NSA confirmed Afghanistan was the most important and immediate issue, he discussed with US officials.

Peace in Afghanistan continued to be Pakistan’s main goal, which could be achieved only if all factions accepted a political solution, he said.

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