Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari— who is currently in Davos for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting— has spoken to Al Jazeera about the recently held conference in Geneva for Pakistan’s devasting flood losses, a looming economic crisis and the soaring threats of terrorism.

In his interview, the 34-year-old minister blamed the previous government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for its wrong approach and “policy of appeasement” towards the Taliban.

He said, “I believe that the previous government had the wrong approach. Its policy of appeasement towards the Taliban has created problems for the people of Pakistan”, adding that this approach has been ended by the incumbent government.

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He said that recently the government also had a national security meeting and it was decided then that Pakistan would adopt a zero-tolerance policy against terrorist groups.

Talking about the oppressive Taliban reign in Afghanistan, Bilawal urged the world to continue engaging with Afghanistan as it is the only solution. He said, “We [Pakistan] are neighbours, we couldn’t separate if we wanted to. The only way to enhance leverage on both sides is to continue to engage with them.”

“I do not think turning our back and disengaging is an option. And it’s certainly not an option for Pakistan which shares such a long and porous border with Afghanistan”, he said, highlighting that both “Pakistanis and Afghanis are victims of terrorism”.

About the economic and food crisis back home, the minister pointed out that Pakistan is not alone in facing the economic crisis as the world is also suffering and these all are the result of post-covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, he hoped that the situation will get better in the coming days. `

Terming the Geneva conference “resilient”, he thanked the international community for pledging more than $9 billion for Pakistan’s flood rehabilitation and climate resilience building.