Imran Khan to the U.S.: We’re not your ‘hired gun’ anymore
ISLAMABAD (7th Dec, 2018): In an interview to The Washington Post, conducted by Lally Weymouth a senior associate editor for The Washington Post Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has dismissed the impression that he was involved in a Twitter war with US President Donald Trump and emphasised that he would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a “hired gun”.
Imran Khan commented on the Twitter exchange between him and the US president and said, “It was not really a Twitter war, it was just setting the record right. The exchange was about being blamed for deeply flawed US policies — the military approach to Afghanistan”.
When pointed out by the interviewer, Lally Weymouth, that Trump wasn’t blaming PM Imran Khan but his predecessors, the PM said, “No, he was saying Pakistan was the reason for these sanctuaries [for Taliban leaders]. There are no sanctuaries in Pakistan”.
Imran Khan continued, “When I came into power, I got a complete briefing from the security forces. They said that we have time and time again asked the Americans, ‘Can you tell us where the sanctuaries are, and we will go after them?’ There are no sanctuaries in Pakistan”.
“Our border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has the greatest amount of surveillance. The US has satellites and drones. These people crossing would be seen,” he added.
Regarding Trump’s letter to him earlier this week seeking help in the Afghan peace process, PM Imran said, “Peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest. We will do everything”.
Whether he will put pressure on the Taliban to come to the negotiating table, the cricketer-turned-politician said, “We will try our best. Putting pressure on the Taliban is easier said than done. Bear in mind that about 40 percent of Afghanistan is now out of the government’s hands”.
Responding to a question regarding Imran Khan’s vision for Pakistan’s relationship with the US, Imran Khan said, “I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given money to fight someone else’s war. We should never put ourselves in this position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. We would like a proper relationship with the U.S.”.
He elaborated, “For instance, our relationship with China is not one-dimensional. It’s a trade relationship between two countries. We want a similar relationship with the US”.
When questioned that some people think he’s trying to hedge his bets using China, Imran Khan said, “The US has basically pushed Pakistan away”.
In reply to another question that whether he thinks “Pakistan’s relationship with the US should warm up”, the Imran Khan replied, “Who would not want to be friends with a superpower?”
To another tougher statement of Lally Weymouth that: “To be honest with you, officials across the board — Democrats and Republicans — agree with Trump about the fact that the past Pakistani governments have lied to them”. Imran Khan replied: “They’ve been misinformed. Is it possible that the greatest military machine in the history of mankind — 150,000 NATO troops with the best equipment and over $1 trillion — are they saying that just a few thousand Pakistani insurgents are the reason they didn’t win in Afghanistan? The United States expected Pakistan to take on the Afghan Taliban. But the Afghan Taliban were not hitting Pakistan. Tehrik-e-Taliban [a Pakistani branch of the Taliban] and al-Qaeda were hitting us”.