By DPA
Berlin : Blaming Pakistan for the problems in Afghanistan is counterproductive, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said Wednesday in an article in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
He said problems inside Afghanistan often spilled over into Pakistan, which was sheltering 2.2 million Afghan refugees.
"That is why the government and populace in Pakistan are offended by insensitively expressed criticism," he wrote.
"We are doing our best to prevent all breaches of the border, particularly by introducing biometric identity papers and building a fence that secures part of the international border.
"To blame Pakistan for Afghanistan's problems would be counterproductive because it distracts attention from the real challenges, which are within Afghanistan."
The minister-rejected claims that a high Taliban council operated from Quetta, Pakistan, saying Pakistani and US intelligence would have long since uncovered it if it had been really there.
He said one reason Pakistan was sending Afghan refugees home was to escape groundless accusations and eliminate a serious threat to law and order in Pakistan.
The help of the West and international community was needed to build "communities" for the refugees inside Afghanistan.
"The international community must commit itself to significantly more aid for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan than has been the case so far," he added. "The Afghan government does not have the means to take on this task."