Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (TPI) Imran Khan on Wednesday called for a special session of the Parliament to devise a comprehensive response to US President Donald Trump's policy on Afghanistan and South Asia. Speaking at a news conference held to give a "policy statement" on US President Donald Trump's allegations of "offering safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror," the PTI chairman said that the country's national security is facing serious threats while the government is in a deep slumber.
"Since, neither the Prime Minister nor the foreign minister gave a policy response to President Trump's allegation but China gave its response [on our behalf]...that's why I am giving a policy statement," he said, adding it is need of the hour that the civil and military leadership must come on a single platform to give a "strong message" to the US that it cannot pin the blame for its own failure on Pakistan.
He said that the civil and military leadership should send a unanimous message to the US that Trump's statements are "unacceptable." He suggested that the government should convene a special session of the Parliament to give a unanimous response to the US, adding despite countless sacrifices of Pakistan in the US war on terror, the President Trump is appreciating India. He said his party has filed an adjournment motion in the National Assembly for convening a special session to discuss the situation arose out of the Trump's remarks.
"Let me tell you Mr. President Trump! You have no understanding of the South Asian region and dynamics of the war on terror," he said. He added that the US President leveled grave allegations against Pakistan and the silence of the government is deplorable.
He also criticized the US new policy to give a key role to India in Afghanistan, saying Pakistan is a victim of the Indian state terrorism as India is using the Afghan soil against Pakistan. "While Pakistan has made sacrifices and fought a war that is not ours, India has been given a key role even though it does not share a border with Afghanistan," he added. He said that Pakistan got involved in the war even though not a single Pakistani was involved in 9/11 incident. "Al Qaeda was in Afghanistan and it was not necessary for Pakistan to get involved in this war," he added.
He said that Pakistan had no reason to take part in the war on terror. "We sent our army to Waziristan at the behest of the US," he said, adding more than 70,000 Pakistanis were killed and many others got injured in the war. According to him, the US cannot hold Pakistan responsible for its failure in Afghanistan. He said over 150,000 Nato soldiers were deployed in Afghanistan, billions of dollars were spent and thousands of Afghans were killed, but today half of Afghanistan is not under the control of Kabul.
He also questioned the deployment of more US troops in Afghanistan when those already stationed there had not been able to win the war despite the use of sophisticated surveillance system. Referring to Trump's remarks that US was giving billions of dollars to Pakistan, he said that the amount spent by the US on Pakistan is very small in comparison to the losses Pakistan has suffered in this war.
To a question, he said what Donald Trump has stated about Pakistan's nuclear program is the propaganda of Indian and Israeli lobbies against Pakistan's nuclear bomb. Responding to another query about the Army Chief's response to President Trump's remarks, he said that the Army Chief has to give a response when the Prime Minister and the foreign minister have kept a mum because they are "scared" to give any statement, adding the Prime Minister needs to give a strong message to the US.
He maintained that the rulers are not giving a response to the US President because they have millions of dollars in foreign banks and they are afraid that their accounts might be freezed on the pretext of links with the terrorists if they speak against the US policies.