India has strengthened its influence on Afghanistan: Shehryar Afridi

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi on Thursday said India has strengthened its influence on Afghanistan.

Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, the minister of state for interior said, “India has tightened its grip on Afghanistan. New Delhi has so much influence there [Kabul] that I was made to wait for two hours on the border for SP Tahir Dawar’s body.”

The minister of state for interior questioned, “Why is our stance not being promoted on international forums? The world should admit to our existence.”

Afridi also asked why international NGOs were allowed to operate in the country from 1947 to 2015. “Why did you give them permission to work against your traditions and beliefs?” he asked.

“Pakistan will no longer be run according to someone else’s vision,” he asserted.

“For us Pakistan is first and then everything else comes. We are an important stakeholder in the security of the region and have to please those who are our own not foreigners. We had earlier adopted a policy of pleasing foreigners and not our own,” Afridi said.

Further, the minister of state for interior said, “I will embrace those who surrender. We have to fix our house and national security is part of our 100-day plan.”

“Civil-military coordination is the need of the hour,” Afridi stressed.

Afridi further vowed to “rid Islamabad and Pakistan of mafia”. “We are drafting a foreign policy which will benefit the country,” he said.

The minister of state for interior also stressed that the media will have to play an important role for national security. 

“Change does not come from pressing a button and thus the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government should be given more time,” he upheld. Further, Afridi said we will have to praise the efforts and successes of overseas Pakistanis.