Af pull-out was sensible, don’t blame Biden: Khan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said US President Joe Biden was targeted with “unfair criticism” over withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and called his decision “the most sensible thing to do”, according to a report in Dawn newspaper. Khan said he wasn’t sure whether the US had any coherent policy on what they were going to do in the country, the newspaper reported on Saturday. “There was so much unfair criticism of President Biden, and what he did was the most sensible thing to do,” he said, adding that he was deeply hurt by the remarks of US senators over the issue. “Pakistan is the country that gave the greatest number of sacrifices for the US in its war,” he said. It was painful to see the US making Pakistan a scapegoat for its failures, he said.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said he believed US President Joe Biden was targeted with “unfair criticism” over the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and termed his decision as “the most sensible thing to do”, according to a media report.
In an interview to Russian broadcaster RT, Khan said he wasn’t sure whether the US had any clear policy on what it was going to do in the war-ravaged country, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday. Referring to the US pulling out troops from Afghanistan, he said, “There was so much unfair criticism of President Biden, and what he did was the most sensible thing to do.”
Khan also called upon the US to devise a strategy if a humanitarian crisis broke out triggered by a feared halt in international support to Afghanistan.
The only reason the US had invaded Afghanistan was terrorism, Khan said, adding, “What would be the achievement if Afghan soil becomes a place for terrorists again? We should not let Afghanistan drift towards another crisis.”
Khan said he was hurt by remarks of US senators against Pakistan over the Afghan crisis. “Pakistan is the country that had the greatest number of sacrifices for the US in its war [on terror]. We were asked to become part of this coalition when Pakistan had nothing to do with 9/11... We had no reason to enter the war,” he said.
Rejecting allegations that Pakistan helped the Taliban in its fight against US forces, he said, “If we believe this is the case, it means Pakistan is stronger than the US and the whole of the Europeans.”