Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Wednesday that over the years Pakistan has tried to solve the problems of others in the region which has adversely affected the country itself.
“We continuously take the pressure and involving ourselves in affairs that we shouldn’t and are often made to suffer the consequences,” she said.
Khar was talking to Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on his talk show DNA on Channel 24.
She said even when a country like Afghanistan levels an allegation against Pakistan and complains to the international community, the international community pays heed to Afghanistan rather than Pakistan.
Talking about the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), she said that Pakistan is not a special case vis-a-vis Chinese investment, as there are other countries in Central Asia which are also getting a huge amount of investment from China. These investments, she said, are at par with CPEC, if not more.
She said that what provokes the ire of the US, the European countries and others is the fact that Pakistan’s territory is being used by terrorists.
“The state of Pakistan will have to address this issue because that has always been the root cause of the international community’s dismay,” she said.
Khar said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s government was the first to remove the distinction of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists and launched the first ever operation against these elements recognising the internal threats that the country was facing at that time.
At the moment, there is no functional foreign minister, she said, and that has created a vacuum.
“So there’s a space now, which is being filled by both the military and the government.”
Talking about the murder of Amjad Sabri, Nizami said that even though there were threats against his life, he was allowed to remain a “sitting duck” as he had not been provided adequate security. Therefore, the police, Rangers and the provincial government are all equally responsible for this negligence, he said.