Pakistan federal minister demands audio transcript of Nawaz's meeting with Afghan official
Jul 24, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 24 : Pakistan federal minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday demanded the audio transcript of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's meeting with Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib.
"The audio transcripts of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's meeting with a delegation comprising Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib should be made public," Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said during a press conference in Islamabad, reported The News International.
The minister along with Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar said in Nawaz's meeting with Mohib "damaged Islamabad's security doctrine" as the man had earlier issued anti-Pakistan remarks.
In a public speech two months back in eastern Nangarhar province, next to the Pakistani border, Mohib had not only repeated his allegations about Islamabad "not wanting to work with a Pashtun leader in Afghanistan" but called Pakistan a "brothel house".
His remarks outraged leaders in Islamabad, who denounced them, saying they "debased all norms of interstate communication".
Fawad, in today's briefing, said that he was "surprised" that Nawaz had met the Afghan delegation and contested that Mohib and Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh do not have much stake in their country.
On Friday, top Afghan officials met with former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London and discussed regional security and stability.
"Dr Hamdullah Mohib, national security advisor of the Islamic Republic, and State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Naderi called on Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London to discuss matters of mutual interest," the National Security Council of Afghanistan (NSCA) said in a statement.
This meeting irked various ministers of Imran Khan-led Pruling akistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Several ministers alleged that PML-N supremo was a "close friend" of every enemy of the country.
Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz defended the meeting and said: "Pakistan's peaceful existence with its neighbours is the very foundation of Nawaz Sharif's ideology for which he has worked tirelessly," Maryam wrote on Twitter in response to the government's criticism against her father for meeting top Afghan officials in London.
