Islamabad says Washington is making it a “scapegoat” for its own failures.
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The top U.S. diplomat also doubled down on Trump’s comments about Pakistan, noting that it can play an important role in delivering the Taliban to the negotiating table but warned that Islamabad must stop offering safe haven to terrorist groups or face consequences.
According to the ISPR statement, Bajwa highlighted the importance of peace in Afghanistan for Pakistan and highlighted the efforts made by Pakistan to that end.
“When Richard Nixon, for instance, became president in 1969, he and Henry Kissinger knew the Vietnam War can not be won by the U.S. but they didn’t want to take responsibility for having been defeated”.
The US recognises that Pakistan has legitimate security interest in the future of Afghanistan and that what happens in Afghanistan impacts Pakistan, he said.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif briefed the civil and military members about Trump’s statement on USA policy review.
Trump recognized the regional nature of Islamic terrorism, calling on other countries victimized by it to do more to defeat the enemy. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan.
The statement came a day after Trump accused Pakistan of “housing the very terrorists we (Americans) are fighting” in Afghanistan. “We will also expand authority for American armed forces to target the terrorists and criminal networks that sow violence and chaos throughout Afghanistan”, the U.S. president said. For Afghanistan, India is not a part of solution; rather it is part of the problem. This serves their goal of countering the Taliban and the Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, meanwhile launching terror strikes against Pakistan through ISIS.
“We want Pakistan to be able to do more and we intend to work with those countries for an Afghan-led peace process”, the State Department official said. India, the world’s largest democracy, is a key security and economic partner of the USA, he said.
Besides veiled threats, Trump also cleared the way for the deployment of thousands more United States troops to Afghanistan, backtracking from his promise to evacuate war-torn region.
“There is no question that there has been a porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan”.
Iftikhar Ali Malik urged all political parties for setting aside their political differences for the sake of the country and sit down to evolve a joint strategy to tackle US-India diplomatic pressure.
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From America’s leadership down to the guy on the street, people are tired of our long involvement in Afghanistan, which began after 9/11.
