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News Topical, Digital Desk : Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has accused the US of using his country for its strategic advantage and then discarding it like a piece of toilet paper after achieving its objective.
Speaking in Pakistan's National Assembly, Asif acknowledged that Pakistan often denies its terror history and attributes it to the fault of previous dictators. The Pakistani minister also described Islamabad's involvement in two Afghan wars as a mistake and said that terrorism in Pakistan today is a result of past mistakes.
What did Khawaja Asif say on friendship with America?
Asif discussed Pakistan's re-engagement with Washington after 1999. The country suffered significant losses, particularly in the case of Afghanistan. He said the price of re-engaging with the US after 1999, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was too high.
" Pakistan was treated worse than a piece of toilet paper, used for one purpose and then thrown away, " he said. The defence minister said Islamabad again sided with Washington in the US-led Afghan war after 2001, turning against the Taliban during this period.
He said that when the US finally withdrew from the region, Pakistan struggled with violence, extremism, and economic hardship for a long time. Asif also challenged the official narrative that Pakistan's involvement in the Afghan conflict was due to religious compulsion.
'Pakistanis were sent in the name of jihad'
He acknowledged that Pakistanis were sent to fight in the name of jihad, calling it misleading and deeply damaging. He told Parliament that two former military dictators (Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf) had joined the war in Afghanistan not for the sake of Islam, but to appease a superpower.
"We deny our history and do not accept our mistakes. Terrorism is the result of mistakes made by dictators in the past. The losses we have suffered can never be compensated. Pakistan's mistakes cannot be rectified," the minister said.
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