We will not fight others’ war: Imran
‘We should never put ourselves in this position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. We would like a proper relationship with the US,’ says Imran
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will no longer act as a hired gun in someone else’s war, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday, striking a note of defiance against US demands for Islamabad to do more in the battle against militancy.
Imran - who also reiterated his backing for a recent push by the US for talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan - said that he wants Pakistan to move forward with “honour.”
“We will no longer fight someone else’s war, nor will we bow down in front of anyone,” the former cricketer said.
Imran said he would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun - given money to fight someone else’s war.
Islamabad:primeministerimran Khan has accused the US of pushing Pakistan away and said he would never want to have a relation with Washington where his country is treated like a “hired gun.”
In a irst wide-ranging interview to thewashington Post, he said Islamabad wanted a “proper relationship” with Washington.
US President Donald Trump, in a letter to Imran a couple of days ago, had sought Islamabad’s help in ending Afghan conlict and bringing Taliban leadership to the negotiating table.
When asked about the “twitter war” with the Trump, Imran said “it was not really a Twitter war, it was just setting the record right. The exchange was about being blamed for deeply lawed US policies — the military approach to Afghanistan.”
He said there are no sanctuaries in Pakistan. Rejecting the US propaganda on sheltering Taliban leaders, the premier said he was briefed about the situation and that he was told that Pakistan has asked the US several times to share where the sanctuaries are.
“We have 2.7 million Afghan refugees. Ourborderbetweenpakistanandafghanistan has the greatest amount of surveillance. The US has satellites and drones. These people crossing would be seen.”
On Trump’s letter seeking support, Imran said: “Peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest. We will do everything”
“I talked for years about how there was no military solution in Afghanistan, and they called me ‘Taliban Khan.’ If you did not agree with the US policy, you were [thought to be] anti-american. Now I’m happy that everyone realises there is only a political solution. From Pakistan’s point of view, we do not want the Americans to leave Afghanistan in a hurry like they did in 1989.”
On future of PAK-US ties, Imran said he would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given money to ight someone else’s war. “We should never put ourselves in this position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. We would like a proper relationship with the US.”
CHINA TIES
Defending ties with Beijing, the prime minister said “our relationship with China is not one-dimensional. It’s a trade relationship between two countries and we wanted a similar relationship with US. The US has basically pushed Pakistan away.”
Imran termed the US policy of declaring people criticising American policies imperialistic approach.
On killing of Al Qaeda Chief Osama Bin Laden, he said “most Pakistanis felt deeplyhumiliatedthatwewerenottrusted, implying that we were complicit in it.”
“We got some relief from a Gulf country and China but they wanted to keep it conidential. We raised money, but we are talking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We do not want to have conditions imposed on us which would cause more unemployment and inlation. Exxon has come back to Pakistan after 27 years, and they’re doing a big exploration for us. Pepsico has put extra investments because we are a clean government. We won’t be asking them for money.”
BJP SLAMMED
India rebuffed all my overtures because they have elections and the ruling [BJP] party has an anti-muslim, anti-pakistan approach, said Imran.
He said that he wanted to make Pakistan an equitable, just society. “I believe in a welfare state. I would be on the opposite side of Trump in terms of economic policy, probably closer to Senator Bernie Sanders. I went as an 18-year-old to play cricket in England. It was the irst time I saw a welfare state. It cared for the underprivileged, for the people who can’t compete in the race.”