Can partner with US for peace, not war: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday maintained that there would be no compromise on the country’s sovereignty giving a categorical message that Pakistan could be a partner with the United States in peace and but could never be a partner in conflicts.

The prime minister while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly during his long address told the House that the US, after finding that there could be no military solution, was asking Pakistan to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. “But we do not want strategic depth in Afghanistan and do not want any choice government there and we will respect the decision of Afghan people,” he said.

He said he is asked whether Pakistan would give its bases to the US that Pakistan would not compromise on country’s sovereignty. “Did they praise us or acknowledge our support in the past. Instead they said we have double standards,” the prime minister in his historic address on the floor of the National Assembly said.

The main parliamentarians on the opposition desks including the opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal and Asad Mahmood were not present during the prime minister's address in the House.

He recalled that in the past then government decided that Pakistan would become frontline state in war on terror. “If any nation could sacrifice its 70,000 people and suffer $150 billion for the sake of war ofothers,” he questioned.

He also said Pakistanis were captured and were sent to Guantanamo. Some US leaders said that Musharraf was vulnerable and they kept on pushing him. “Musharraf also admitted in his book that he sent our people to Guantanamo” and questioned which law allowed him to do that.

The prime minister recalled that Pakistan also sent its troops to tribal areas to take action after al Qaeda people reached there following Tora Bora incident and operation was started in half of then Fata areas.

He regretted when he said the military solution would not work in Afghanistan, he was called Taliban Khan and pro-Taliban. “I want to recall that Afghan people never accepted external interference,” he said.

“This is also the blackest chapter in our history that our ally US used to carry out drone attacks on our territory and after such attack, the Pakistanis and its forces faced terror attacks,” he said adding that then government spoke lie to the people that they have not permitted drone attacks.

He said that Admiral Mullen during a meeting said it was the Pakistan government which had given permission for drone attacks. “We humiliated ourselves in the community of the world,” he regretted.

He said the self-esteem was further damaged with notion of enlightened moderation and people started wearing two-piece suits and speaking English. “I want to repeat no country will respect a nation who does not have self-esteem,” he maintained.

PM Imran Khan, paying tribute to the people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, said Pakistan stands by them and reiterated that diplomatic relations would not be restored with New Delhi and there would be no talks with India until it rescinds the illegal steps taken on August 5, 2019.