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Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule

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(Last Updated On: November 5, 2021)

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join NATO but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, the former NATO chief, George Robertson said this week.

Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2004, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe, the UK’s Guardian reported.

“They wanted to be part of that secure, stable, prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said.

Robertson recalled an early meeting with Putin, who became Russian president in 2000. “Putin said: ‘When are you going to invite us to join NATO?’ And [Robertson] said: ‘Well, we don’t invite people to join NATO, they apply to join NATO.’ And he said: ‘Well, we’re not standing in line with a lot of countries that don’t matter’.”

Robertson’s comments underscore how Putin’s worldview has evolved during his 21 years of unbroken rule of Russia, the Guardian reported.

Robertson also recalled how he became the first and only NATO secretary general to invoke NATO’s collective defence clause, known as article five, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

After the 9/11 attacks, many NATO allies joined the US in invading Afghanistan, with NATO taking over the mission command in 2003.

Robertson was however critical of the US’s chaotic withdrawal two months ago, but contended that the 20-year long mission of western military forces made a difference, despite the return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

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Pakistan rejects IEA’s allegations of Daesh using its territory against Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Thursday rejected the statements of the Islamic Emirate regarding the use of Pakistan’s soil against Afghanistan by Daesh, calling the remarks as “unwarranted and irresponsible.”

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference that instead of such statements, the Afghan authorities should take effective action against all terror groups, based in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Pakistan Army claimed that last month’s suicide attack that killed five Chinese nationals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been planned in Afghanistan and had been carried out by an Afghan.

In reaction, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, Inayatullah Khwarazmi, said that in an area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is under the security of the Pakistan Army, the killing of Chinese nationals is either the weakness of the security institutions or their cooperation with the attackers.

He also said: “We have cases where the Daesh entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, and Pakistani soil was used against our soil, and the attacks are planned in that country.”

Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that Afghan soil is being used in attacks against Pakistan, but this was the first time the Islamic Emirate accused Pakistan of not preventing Daesh from entering Afghanistan.

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Afghans will have a good future under the shadow of Islamic system: Haqqani

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani has said in a meeting with the European Union envoy in Kabul that Afghans will have a good future in peace and under the shadow of the Islamic system.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior on Friday, Haqqani, in his meeting with Raffaella Iodice, the European Union’s Chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, said that Afghans will work hard, endure hardships and will be on the path of progress.

The EU envoy expressed her hope for continued peace and a better future for Afghans, according to the statement.

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Kabir urges Panjshiris to encourage their sons in exile to return home

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(Last Updated On: May 9, 2024)

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister, urged Panjshir residents to encourage their sons living in neighboring countries to return home as the Islamic Emirate has no enmity with anyone.

At a gathering in Panjshir, attended by senior IEA officials, Kabir said that there is currently no space for ethnic and linguistic discrimination as well as hypocrisy in Afghanistan.

He stressed that all Afghans should work together for the construction, development and prosperity of the country.

According to him, IEA’s political and commercial relations with the world are secure and the government is committed to the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan and is doing its best to gain self-sufficiency.

At this gathering, the IEA’s minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, said that illegal acts in the country have reached zero and that Daesh does not exist in the country. He also said the people of Panjshir will not be deceived by biased people.

“Currently, there is no corruptor and there is no Daesh fighter in Afghanistan, and no one can provide proof [of their existence]. We are one nation. Our religion and beliefs are one,” said Hanafi.

Some residents of Panjshir also said that they support the Islamic Emirate and will share their challenges with the authorities.

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