MM News

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday asserted that the decision, regarding Pakistan’s participation in America’s ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan, was made in the public interest but “for dollars”.

The prime minister’s remarks came while he was addressing officers of the Ministry of Foreign Ministry Affairs (MoFA) in Islamabad. PM Imran congratulated the Foreign Office for successfully conducting the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) last Sunday.

“Unfortunately, the people of Pakistan were not a consideration,” the premier said, adding, “The considerations, instead, were the same as in the 1980s, when we participated in the Afghan jihad,” referring to the Soviet-Afghan war.

The prime minister termed the war a “self-inflicted wound for Pakistan”, saying that however, “we cannot blame anyone else for this outcome of the decision.”

Talking about the situation in Afghanistan, the premier said, “It is a big atrocity on the human level that a man-made crisis is being created” in the war-torn country. “Even when it is known that unfreezing Afghanistan’s accounts and infusing liquidity into the country’s banking system will avert the crisis,” he added.

The premier said addressing the situation in Afghanistan was important not just because it was Pakistan’s neighbour, but “above all [because] the country was facing a humanitarian crisis”.

“We have been saying this from day one, from August 15 [when the Taliban seized Kabul], that whether you like the Taliban government on not, the lives of 40 million people are on the brink of destruction,” he added.

Noting that the FO had organised a summit of such a scale after a long time, the premier commended it and said it was the result of “teamwork” with a significant contribution from law enforcement agencies.

“The attendance at the summit and the appreciation of Pakistan’s stance at the moot reflect that the country’s image had improved,” the premier said, adding that “we have achieved the objective behind hosting the conference.”

PM Imran said Muslim countries’ stance on the Afghan situation was the “universal” stance now. “Look at statements by Europeans, they are standing with us and the UN, too, has a clear stance,” he added. He also credited his government for the “improvement in Pakistan’s image”.

“We faced the biggest financial crunch in Pakistan’s history. I don’t think any other government was handed down such wide fiscal and current account deficits and then there was also the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, if you compare where Pakistan stands today to where it stood three years ago, you will see that the country’s image has improved,” he added.

Earlier, the successful hosting of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan drew worldwide applause for Pakistan for making the global community aware of the deteriorating humanitarian and economic situation in the war-ravaged country.

Convened by Saudi Arabia as OIC chair and hosted by Pakistan with 20 foreign ministers, 10 deputy FMs and 437 delegates in attendance, the session decided to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund under the Islamic Development Bank and launch discussions with UN agencies for actions to unlock financial and banking channels for flow of liquidity and assistance.