Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, in what was one of his biggest confessions, accused the US of using Islamabad for its strategic interests and then treating it as “worse than toilet paper”.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that Pakistan had to pay a high price for rebuilding relations with the United States after 1999. (Reuters)Speaking in parliament, Asif said Pakistan’s decision to reconcile with Washington after 1999, particularly in relations with Afghanistan, had harmed the country in the long run, media reports said.
He described Islamabad’s role in the two Afghan wars as “a mistake” and added that the terrorism Pakistan is facing today is a result of those past decisions.
Khawaja Asif’s big comments against the USHe said Pakistan paid a heavy price for rebuilding relations with the US after 1999, especially in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Asif blamed former military rulers Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf for pushing Pakistan into foreign conflicts. He said, even after the Allies moved on, the country continued to suffer the effects of that decision.
Addressing the lawmakers, he said Islamabad was “treated worse than toilet paper, used for a purpose and then thrown away”.
Asif added that Pakistan again sided with Washington during the US-led war in Afghanistan after 2001 and took a stand against the Taliban.
He said that although the US later left the region, Pakistan has faced years of violence, growing extremism and economic problems.
HT could not independently verify the video.
‘Terrorism is the blow of error’: Khawaja AsifThe defense minister also disputed claims that Pakistan’s role in the Afghan war was based on religious commitments.
He told lawmakers that “two former military dictators (Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf) joined the war in Afghanistan, not for the sake of Islam, but to please a superpower.”
“Terrorism is a blow to mistakes committed by dictators in the past,” he added.
He also said that even the country’s education system was adjusted to support those wars and said the effects of that ideological shift are still visible today.
