Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has delivered a scathing evaluation of his nation’s previous alliances with Washington, telling the Nationwide Meeting that Islamabad had been “used like rest room paper after which discarded” after serving American pursuits in Afghanistan. Talking throughout a debate on terrorism following a lethal suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad, Asif mentioned Pakistan had repeatedly joined “superpower wars” that had been by no means its personal.
“We took half in two wars that had been fought on the soil of Afghanistan,” Asif informed lawmakers. Referring to the Soviet intervention in 1979, he claimed it was carried out “on the invitation of the federal government in Kabul” and that the narrative of an outright invasion was formed by the USA.Pakistan, he mentioned, entered these conflicts “within the title of Islam and faith”, however in actuality two former navy dictators sought legitimacy and the backing of a worldwide energy.“These weren’t our wars; they had been superpower wars,” he mentioned, including that Pakistan and its land had been used after which discarded “like rest room paper.”Asif went on to explain terrorism in Pakistan because the “blowback of errors dedicated by dictators prior to now”. He added that Pakistan had did not be taught from historical past, persevering with to shift between Washington, Moscow and London in pursuit of short-term pursuits.“For our personal pursuits, we generally flip to Washington, generally to Moscow, and generally to Britain. We now have constructed robust franchises right here, which was not the case 30 or 40 years in the past,” Asif mentioned.Recalling then US President Invoice Clinton’s transient cease in Islamabad in 2000, a go to lasting only some hours on the finish of an extended India journey, Asif mentioned it underscored how transactional the connection had change into. Clinton’s engagement with then navy ruler Pervez Musharraf was framed by US calls for on democracy, non-proliferation and militancy, reinforcing.Asif’s remarks got here as parliament handed a decision condemning the assault on Imambargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra in Islamabad’s Tarlai space, the place a suicide bomber killed 31 folks and wounded 169 throughout Friday prayers. The Islamic State group claimed duty. 1000’s attended funerals throughout the capital as grieving households demanded accountability. “What occurred yesterday has left us extraordinarily indignant and deeply harm,” mentioned Bushra Rahmani, whose brother was among the many wounded.The minister urged political unity, lamenting what he known as a scarcity of consensus even in condemning terrorism. “It is extremely essential that now we have a nationwide identification on which nobody disagrees,” he mentioned, criticising those that, for political causes, prevented attending the funerals of victims.
