Minister for Defence Khurram Dastgir Wednesday said that the US-India nexus regarding Afghanistan indicates that Trump administration is not serious in bringing peace and stability to the war-torn country. During an interaction session with media, he said that the US is not sincere in restoration of peace, adding US President Donald Trump's recent statement has also indicted the future threats Pakistan may face.
"The US-India nexus in Afghanistan shows that the US is not serious in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan," he said in reference to Donald Trump's speech, in which the US President sought India's increased role in Afghanistan.
He said that India is a war mongering country and has been the second largest buyer of weapons for the last two years. "The US ignores the fact that India is still a threat not only to Pakistan but to the world as well," he said, adding that India is a threat to Pakistan but the US is not acknowledging this fact. "The US cannot deny the fact," he added.
He said the US President in his speech hurt the sentiments of people of Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa's Defence Day speech was a reflection of that. On September 6, CoAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa referring to criticism by the US President Donald Trump over Pakistan's alleged inaction against 'safe havens' of terrorists said, "Despite all our efforts, our countless sacrifices and over decades of war, we are being told that we have not done enough against terrorism."
The minister said that Pakistan has done enough in the war against terror and the world acknowledges the efforts as well, adding that the country has tried to support its neighboring country Afghanistan beyond its capacity. He said Pakistan has its own interests in Afghan peace for being a neighboring country, adding it is of utmost importance for economic connectivity to the Central Asian states.
The minister said that China, Turkey and Iran are also deeply interested in Afghanistan peace. Rejecting the US allegations regarding alleged safe havens of terrorists in Pakistan, Dastgir said that Pakistan armed forces have conducted the largest operations against terrorism. He admired the forces, saying that the country's armed forces are the only forces which are experienced and capable of conducting larger scale operations against terrorism.
He said that Pakistan is committed to eradicating the menace of terrorism, adding that large-scale military operations have already come to an end, while intelligence-based operations are still underway across the country.