Pakistan’s former defense secretary Gen Asif Yasin Malik has proposed a high-powered special envoy, working directly under the country’s prime minister, to interact with Afghanistan in order to remove misconceptions and frictions and ensure friendly relations between the two countries, according to a Dawn News report.
“However, it should also be ensured that Pakistani soil would not be used against Afghanistan. Both countries should make joint strategies to address the issues. They should understand that the United States never cared about the local people while it was in Vietnam, Iraq or Libya. How will it care about the people of Afghanistan?” Malik said while speaking at an international conference on ‘Afghanistan Crisis: What Lies Ahead?’ on Monday.
Dawn News reported he said that the US had been putting all the blame on the Haqqani network and alleging that it was operating in Pakistan.
Dawn News quoted him as having said: “The fact is that almost 60 percent area of Afghanistan is beyond the control of the Afghan government. On the other hand, Afghanistan doesn’t have a foreign policy and currently all the decisions are being taken under the influence of the US and India. Corruption has been continuously increasing in the public sector and the country is leading to civil war. Dialogue should be started among all ethnic entities.”
According to the report, Malik said the US never cared about local people while fighting in Vietnam, Iraq and Libya and adding that Pakistan was also facing problems because of poor priorities in its foreign policy. Fata reforms had also been stalled and projects under the CPEC were being delayed because of hindrances, he said.
“The US should stop interfering in Afghanistan and the decision to involve India is also creating problems. During the past one decade the US has spent $1 trillion USD in Afghanistan; had it invested one-fourth of it on development, there would have been no problem in that country,” he added.
Dawn News said Malik also recommended that border control be strengthened in Pakistan and Afghanistan and both countries should take extra steps for bilateral trade.
This piece originally appeared on TOLO News on March 20, 2018. Original link.
Disclaimer: Views expressed on this blog are not necessarily endorsed or supported by the Center for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad.
