Afghanistan should not be viewed solely through a security lens: Achakzai

Mehmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of Pakistan’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and opposition leader in the National Assembly, said Afghanistan continues to be viewed mainly through a security lens in regional forums.

Speaking at the opening session of a three-day public jirga in Southern Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, Achakzai said Afghan people were not adequately represented in discussions about their country, including at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

He said blaming Afghanistan alone for regional security challenges ignored the country’s history of decades of conflict, foreign interventions and proxy rivalries involving major and regional powers.

Achakzai also said the powers and proxies involved during the Cold War bear historical responsibility for the destruction of Afghanistan.