Khawaja Asif spoke to RT about the history of Islamabad’s support for terrorist groups on behalf of US and Europe
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that his country was a victim of terrorism in the region stemming from the policies of Western governments, particularly the US, tracing back decades.
Speaking to RT on Saturday, Asif called a mistake the decisions by the country’s past rulers to join the Soviet-Afghanistan war in the late 1980s and become a platform for training and indoctrinating jihadists on behalf of the West. The minister noted his country was a “springboard” for the Soviet-Afghan war.
“The introduction of jihad, which was invented by the West, changed the country’s ethos and led to its current issues. The whole ethos of the society was changed to support the jihad,” Asif said.
According to him, during the war in Afghanistan, Islamabad “supplied all sorts of help [to US].” Later, post 9/11 attacks, Pakistan again “joined the coalition.”“From our soil, all the supplies used to go to us and all of the facilities,” he said. The minister added, however: “Both these wars, in my humble opinion, were not our wars.”
Asif insisted that Pakistan bears the consequences of previous policies. “We suffered a lot and the United States abandoned us around ‘89 or ‘90. [They] went away and we were left high and dry,” he said. The official added that the security situation deteriorated after the US’ disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The minster noted that the Pashtun community’s origins are divided between both Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a significant portion living in Pakistan, which he called a cause of concern. Stating the fact that almost 6 million undocumented Afghans are living in Pakistan, Asif said that “nobody’s there to take responsibility of what’s happening to us.”
Asif was speaking in response to questions about whether Islamabad has been backing terrorist groups on behalf of the US and UK – something that he himself admitted a day earlier in an interview with British broadcaster Sky News.
India this week linked Pakistan to the terrorist attack in southern Kashmir that killed 26 civilians, all of them tourists from different parts of India. Pakistan has denied the allegations.
“The main target or main… you know, victim of terrorism, in this region is Pakistan. And we’ve been blamed by India for something with which we have nothing to do,” he claimed.
New Delhi has consistently accused Pakistan of supporting and funding terrorist groups within the county and across the border.
Following this week’s attack, New Delhi expelled Pakistani diplomats, cancelled valid visas of Pakistani citizens, and closed its land border. India also suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which had been in force for decades, despite several wars the two neighbors fought, numerous skirmishes at the border, and devastating terrorist attacks against both civilians and military personnel.
Pakistan responded with reciprocal moves, specifically warning that any attempt on New Delhi’s part to block or divert the river under the treaty would be taken as “an act of war.”