South Asian policy: don't trust your generals, Asif again seeks to advice Trump

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday reiterated that the US must stop framing its South Asia policy on the advice of military generals who faced humiliating defeat in Afghanistan, as political engagement with all stakeholders is the only way forward to resolve the issue. Winding up a debate about the recent visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Pakistan, he said that it has been made crystal clear to the US that its wish to appoint India a 'policeman' in the region is in no way acceptable.
Responding to questions raised by the senators who chided US President Donald Trump for his new South Asia policy, Asif said it will be a wishful thinking if somebody thinks he has cordial relations with the US. "We are engaged in talks with the US for bringing peace in Afghanistan. The relations between the two countries will be back on track if the US accepts our demands as any attempt to make us a scapegoat is not justified," he added.
The foreign minister also said that Pakistan is keen to restore peace in the region, especially in Afghanistan, for which it is ready to play its due role through the platform of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Referring to a briefing by Tillerson to the US senators after concluding his visit to Pakistan, he said the US top diplomat apprised the lawmakers of Pakistan's viewpoint which wants credible intelligence sharing to track down the terrorists on its soil.
"We'd told Tillersonthat we will take action against militant outfits if we are given credible intelligence by the US as mere rhetoric of do more is not going to work," he said without elaborating that it was the policy of General Musharraf.
A day earlier speaking in Senate, Senator Farhatullah Babar had accused the government of pursuing the policy of General Musharraf who also used to ask for addresses of the militants taking refuge in Pakistan after the US demand for a crackdown.
To a question that he told Tillerson that he should not entrust the frustrated military generals for framing its foreign policy, he said that he had "wittingly" said it all, adding any policy by the defeated generals is doomed to fail, and the same will also apply in case of Pakistan.
He said he had urged that the US State Department or other civilian policymaking institutions should take a greater control of the American policy instead of relying on President Trump's rejected approach to this problem. "If America frames its policy free from the influence of these retired military generals who were defeated in Afghanistan, it will be much more successful and effective. When they make Pakistan the scapegoat, they are in fact covering their own failures in Afghanistan," he maintained.
Asif assured the senators that their concerns have been heard and the foreign policy would be devised keeping their guidelines in mind, adding the National Security Committee (NSC) headed by the Prime Minister gives final nod to any foreign policy. "At present, the foreign policy is discussed in NSC meeting headed by prime minister where both civil and military leaderships give their input and the days are gone when foreign policy was used to be framed by a single individual," he added. He said that the foreign policy of the country will be shaped on the advice of the Parliament.