Army acted on NAP but govt failed to do its part: minister

RAWALPINDI: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the civilian government did not implement the National Action Plan (NAP) on its part as compared to the Pakistan Army and that was what he meant when he said there was a need to 'put our house in order'. 

He said that Supreme Court (SC) in 2012 had delivered a judgement in the Asghar Khan case in which it was stated that an inquiry should be carried out against politicians who were accused of taking money from the ISI, but Chaudhry Nisar had rejected that inquiry and that was the reason that he has not been on talking terms with him (Nisar) since then. 

Khawaja Asif revealed this during his interview with Hamid Mir during the Geo programme Capital Talk on Thursday. He said that the internal dangers being faced by the country were graver than external dangers which had been identified as they were visible. But, he said, the aftermath of our wrong policies of two or three decades could be seen in our streets and that debris seemed clean now. 

Khawaja Asif said the army had offered great sacrifices in the war against terrorism. He said civilians were also martyred in fight against terrorism like Bashir Balour, son of Iftikhar Hussain, Shuja Khan Zada etc. He said that no army of the world tackled terrorism as our army did.

On the question of Asghar Khan case Khawaja Asif said the Supreme Court in 2012 has passed verdict in which it said that FIA should carry out inquiry against those politicians who were accused of taking money from ISI and that time Chaudhry Nisar was the opposition leader and he rejected that inquiry.

On the question of US Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that the United States has been conveyed that it should change its approach in the region, as it has been fighting for 16 years in Afghanistan without any favourable outcome.

The minister said his government wanted to tell the world that Pakistan had efficiently fought the war on terror. "Pakistan fought this war through its own resources. We only said no to US assistance."

The foreign minister said that a better understanding was required regarding the country’s foreign policy and suggestions were sought at the conference of Pakistani envoys held in Islamabad earlier.

Asif, expanding upon his recent whirlwind tour of friendly countries, said talks were held on Afghanistan and bilateral relations came under discussion during his visits to China, Iran and Turkey. "After China, I went to Iran and there too, were concerns over the new US policy for South Asia," he said, adding that he met President Rouhani and other Iranian officials and there was harmony on the Afghan issue.

Pakistan decided to approach regional countries after US President Donald Trump announced his controversial new policy for South Asia, which included 'anti-Pakistan' remarks. Since then, Islamabad has gone on a diplomatic offensive, engaging regional countries that share its point of view with regards to Afghanistan.

Regarding his visit to the US, the minister said he is likely to visit for 12 to 13 days, during which he would hold meetings with his Russian and Afghan counterparts. "A meeting would also be held with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani."

When asked of the Haqqani Network, he said it operated in eastern Afghanistan. About the country's security situation, Asif said Pakistan had been kept engaged on its borders with Afghanistan and India, adding, "We are aware of external threats, but the internal ones are more serious.”

Maintaining his statement of putting own house in order, he questioned, "Did we fulfil the responsibilities of civilian institutions under the National Action Plan? Did our house get in order?" Commenting on the Rohingya issue, the minister said he did not think that China was siding with Myanmar over the issue.