Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that the Afghan Taliban had requested a loan of Rs10 billion from Pakistan, saying the government would have considered granting it if Kabul had guaranteed there would be no cross-border terrorism.

Speaking on Aaj News programme “News Insight with Aamir Zia” on Tuesday, Asif said Pakistan neither wants war with India nor Afghanistan.

“We are slowly untangling economic knots,” he said.

Whether it’s Pahalgam, Delhi, or Kabul, terrorism anywhere is not in our interest,” he said, adding that Pakistan would respond if attacked.

He said Pakistan would not initiate any military adventure but assured that the country would defend itself if provoked.

“India may try to create a pretext for aggression. Since Operation Bunyam al-Marsus, we have remained on high alert,” the minister noted.

Asif added that Islamabad was using all diplomatic options but would be compelled to respond to recent incidents if provoked again.

“Those who invested in the Taliban miscalculated,” he said, calling the group unreliable.

“Our Iranian, Turkish, and Qatari brothers have indicated another effort for peace.”

The defence minister also expressed regret over his past remarks praising the Taliban. “I regret my tweet. I praised a group that is not trustworthy. Their appearance may be Islamic, but beyond that, I will say nothing more,” he remarked.

Criticises judges

Separately, without naming anyone, Asif criticised judges who wrote letters to the Chief Justice expressing concerns over the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment and judicial independence.

In a post on X, he questioned whether the authors remembered the judiciary’s own history.

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“From Justice Munir to Justice Naseem Hassan Shah and Justice Irshad Hassan Khan — and even the Panama case judges — they all committed judicial crimes. Have the letter writers forgotten their institution’s past, or are they suffering from selective amnesia?” he wrote.

Asif said the judiciary not only sentenced former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to death but had repeatedly violated the Constitution.

“Those demanding justice should first look into their own conduct before writing letters,” he added.

It may be noted that two Supreme Court judges recently wrote separate letters to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi expressing concerns about the proposed 27th Amendment and its possible implications for judicial independence.