ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned that while Islamabad prefers a negotiated settlement with Afghanistan, “an option of open war” remains if talks fail, in remarks that underline rising tensions along the two countries’ border.
In this regard, Khawaja Asif said Pakistan would first examine any conditions put forward by Kabul and pursue diplomacy, but made clear that military action was not off the table should negotiations prove unacceptable.
Furthermore, Asif framed his comments in the context of what he described as a long history of Pakistan’s restraint and hospitality toward Afghan refugees.
“We hosted Afghan migrants for forty years as guests,” he said, adding that Pakistan had been targeted through proxy warfare, which, he alleged, involved coordination between New Delhi and elements in Afghanistan after Pakistan’s confrontations with India.
Moreover, the minister also sought to reassure citizens about security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, saying there had been no incident on the border for five days.
He credited the country’s armed forces for preventing incursions and said the sacrifices of military personnel had left the border “completely secure.”
So far, the government representatives have often intensified the sensitivity of Pakistan’s western frontier, where porous terrain and shifting allegiances have complicated efforts to deny militants safe haven. Khawaja Asif’s public statement places renewed focus on Islamabad’s demand for concrete assurances from Kabul and on the consequences if those demands are not met.
Meanwhile, the defence minister did not provide details on what specific conditions Pakistan would find acceptable, nor did he specify the nature or timing of any potential military response.
He also did not elaborate on whether Pakistan had set a timetable for talks or identified intermediaries for negotiations.
