US failed in its war on terror in Afghanistan: Khurram Dastgir

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan stated on Tuesday that United States of America (US) has failed in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and that Pakistan would not allow the Afghan war to be fought on Pakistani soil anymore.

While speaking at a conference Khan stated, “Even after spending trillion dollars and deploying thousands of soldiers, US was only able to control 40% of Afghanistan.”

He further stated that the US foreign minister has also accepted that the US failed in Afghanistan and remarked, “we won’t allow Afghan war be fought on Pakistani soil.”

On the relations with India, Dastgir shared that Pakistan wants to resolve issues with India. However, when Pakistan wanted to build a relationship with its hostile neighbour, India implemented the Cold Start doctrine.

It is saddening to see the continuous violation of the ceasefire agreements by Indian troops, he said, adding that Indian troops violated LoC ceasefire agreement more than 1,300 times in 2016.

Khan stated that everything between US and Pakistan was out in the open and that Pakistan wants acknowledgement of its sacrifices.

“Pakistan is being made a scapegoat. We have given thousands of sacrifices and are still giving it. Pakistan does not want a price for its cooperation but wants it sacrifices to be acknowledged,” he said.

It is important to mention here that Pakistan-US relations have hit a new low since Donald Trump’s tweet,  in which he categorically emphasised that the US will “no more” give aid to Pakistan. Trump wrote that the US foolishly gave more than US $33 billion in aid to Pakistan over the past 15 years and accused Pakistan of only providing lies and deceit in return.

The US President further alleged that Pakistan provides safe haven to the terrorists and does not cooperate with the US in its anti-terrorist operation against the banned outfits in Afghanistan.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he tweeted.

Not only this but Pakistan this past week was placed on the Special Watch List by US, making it the only country to be put under the newly-formed list.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced re-designation of 10 countries as ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ (CPC). “The secretary also placed Pakistan on a Special Watch List for severe violations of religious freedom,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

The countries are designated on the recommendation of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in line with the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). IRFA requires the US government to designate as CPC any country whose government engages in, or tolerates, particularly severe religious freedom violations that are systematic, ongoing, and egregious.

The List is for countries that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom but may not rise to the level of the CPC. It is being seen as a step below designating it as CPC, which would have automatically kicked in economic and political sanctions.

Leaders from Pakistan have particularly been vocal about their disenchantment with the US and Trump’s regime.