Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday expressed regret over Pakistan’s decision to engage in America’s 20-year-long ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan, calling it “injuries to itself” and a decision made for money, not public interest. For.
Khan, who has long been critical of Pakistan’s involvement in the nearly two-decade-long war, claimed that he was close to the decision-makers in 2001, when the then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf decided to be part of the ‘war’ Was. On terror’.
“And so, I know very well what were the thoughts behind the decision. Unfortunately, the people of Pakistan did not heed,” Khan said while addressing the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs here.
“Instead, the ideas were in the 1980s, when we participated in Afghan jihad,” he said, referring to the Soviet-Afghan war.
“We ourselves are responsible… as we do” [others] Use us, sacrifice our country’s reputation for aid and make a foreign policy that is against the public interest [and was devised] For money.”
He termed the ‘war on terror’ as a ‘own wound’ for Pakistan and said that “we cannot blame anyone else for this outcome (of the war).
Khan had cited frequently in the past that the 20 years of war resulted in more than 80,000 deaths and economic losses of over USD 100 billion to Pakistan.
Talking about the latest situation in Afghanistan, Khan said that it was a great atrocity that a man-made crisis was being created when it was known that unfreezing Afghanistan’s accounts and liquidity would avert the crisis.
He said that it is important for Pakistan to address the situation in Afghanistan as its neighboring country, it can be badly affected due to the crisis.
He said that Pakistan will continue to provide aid to Afghanistan in this difficult time.
He further added that regardless of liking or disliking the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the world should focus on the difficulties faced by its 40 million people.
Khan congratulated and appreciated the Foreign Office for hosting the session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the short notice and said the response to the summit shows that Pakistan’s image has improved globally.
“The attendance at the summit and appreciation for Pakistan’s stand shows that the country’s image has improved,” the premier said, adding that the credit for “improving Pakistan’s image” goes to his government.
The Prime Minister urged the officials of the Ministry to shift their focus from geo-politics to geo-economics and said that Pakistan can become a great country by focusing on self-confidence.
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