Unfair to blame Pakistan for US failure in Afghanistan: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan, highlighting the loss of lives and the damage to the national economy, has said that it is unfair to blame Islamabad for the setbacks suffered by Washington in Afghanistan.

In an exclusive interview to Russia Today, the premier dwelt on the damage the country suffered when it decided to side with the US post 9/11. “Had we not participated in the American war after 9/11, we would not have been the world’s most dangerous country,” said the premier.

Reiterating his stance against the US invasion of Afghanistan, the prime minister reminisced that the Afghan Mujahideen had been trained to fight by Pakistan with funding coming by America’s Central Investigation Agency (CIA) in the1980s when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.

A decade later when the Americans came into Afghanistan, the same groups in Pakistan are supposed to say that now because the Americans are there, it is no longer Jihad, it is terrorism, he said while underscoring the contradiction in rhetoric.

“I strongly felt that Pakistan should have been neutral,” he continued. “Because by joining in [Afghan war] these groups turned against us,” he said.

The prime minister added that the country lost 70,000 lives and suffered a loss of over $100 billion to the economy and, “in the end, we were blamed for the Americans not succeeding in Afghanistan,” he noted.

“I felt it was very unfair to Pakistan,” he said.

Islamabad suffered great losses when it joined Washington’s war on terror and in the end, the US still pinned the blame on Pakistan for its own setbacks in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan told RT in an exclusive interview.

Pakistan took a serious hit after joining the US-led global campaign against terrorism, Khan revealed. Before that Islamabad had been training the Mujahedeen fighters who were funded by the American CIA to wage war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. “But, as it was the US turn to invade Afghanistan, these groups turned against us,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan commended the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in the Human Rights Council on September 10, reinforcing demands of the international community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect and protect Kashmiris rights and resolve Kashmir dispute through UN resolutions.

The prime minister tweeted, “I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on Sept 10 reinforcing demands of international community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect and protect Kashmiris' rights and resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions”.

In another tweet, the prime minister welcomed the European Union call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute. He wrote, “I welcome the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements.”