ISLAMABAD: The civil and military leadership Thursday outrightly rejected specific allegations and insinuations made by US President Donald Trump against Pakistan, saying that blaming Pakistan will not help stabilise Afghanistan.
“In fact, being its immediate neighbour, Pakistan has an abiding interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan,” an official handout said following a eight-hour-long extensive meeting of the National Security Committee held here at the PM House to discuss the Trump administration’s South Asia strategy.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired the NSC meeting which was attended by the services chiefs, ministers and officials from various ministries and divisions.
The committee observed that Pakistan had to manage the blowback of a protracted conflict in Afghanistan that resulted in deluge of refugees, flow of drugs and arms and more recently in the shape of terrorist safe havens in eastern Afghanistan from where anti-Pakistan terrorist groups continue to operate and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
“The fact remains that the complex issues and internal dynamics inside Afghanistan pose a grave challenge not only to Pakistan but to the broader region and the international community,” the statement added.
While noting the US commitment to continue to shoulder the burden of Afghanistan and reverse the expanding ungoverned spaces in the country, the committee observed that Pakistan has consistently supported all international efforts for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan and has also committed more than a $1billion for infrastructure and social development in that country.
Pakistan, being a major regional player in piloting a peace process in Afghanistan, again reiterated its vow for commencement of peace efforts between warring factions in the war-torn Afghanistan.
“Over the years, Pakistan has worked with both the United States and Afghanistan to promote peace through a politically negotiated outcome which, in Pakistan’s view, remains the best option to bring stability to this country,” the statement added.
The handout said that a prolonged military campaign in Afghanistan has resulted in destruction and killing of hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians. Pakistan has also endorsed and supported all Afghan owned and Afghan-led initiatives for peace, the statement noted.
“It is Pakistan’s expectation that any strategy adopted to stabilise Afghanistan will succeed to end this protracted conflict and usher in an era of peace in the country paving way for the dignified return of millions of Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan for which we are willing to extend all possible cooperation,” the statement added.
The meeting also rejected allegations that Pakistan harboured Taliban insurgents, urging the US military to focus on eliminating terrorist sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. “More specifically, we would like to see effective and immediate US military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harboring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan. The Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan,” the statement added.
On its own part, the statement said, Pakistan has taken indiscriminate actions against all terrorist networks and sacrificed tens of thousands of troops and civilians in this fight.
“The demonstrated security improvement inside Pakistan would not have been possible without eliminating all terrorist hideouts. Moreover, successful cooperation with the US in the past against the common enemy, terrorism, reflects Pakistan’s unflinching commitment to eliminate this menace,” the meeting noted.
The committee stressed that instead of any financial or material assistance, there should be understanding and recognition of our efforts, contributions and sacrifice of thousands of Pakistanis and over $120 billion of economic losses.
The meeting also rejected the US claim of giving billions of dollars aid to Pakistan. “The claims of billions of dollars aid to Pakistan are also misleading to the extent that the reimbursements to Pakistan since 2001 only account for part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used by the United States for its operations in Afghanistan, rather than any financial aid or assistance,” the handout said.
The committee stressed that India cannot be a net security provider in the South Asia region when it has strained relations with all its neighbours and was pursuing a policy of destabilising Pakistan from the east and the west.
The committee reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity and underscored that as a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan has in place a robust and credible command and control system which has been universally recognised and appreciated.
“Pakistan will continue to extend all possible cooperation to the international community for achieving the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan,” the statement concluded.
