Islamabad: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has made a striking admission regarding the country’s historical alignment with the United States, accusing Washington of exploiting Islamabad for its strategic interests before abandoning it once its objectives were achieved.
Speaking in Pakistan’s National Assembly, Asif acknowledged the country’s controversial past links with terrorism, describing them as errors made during periods of military rule.
He stated that Pakistan often avoids confronting its own history related to terrorism and called it a “mistake committed by dictators in the past.”
The minister also described Pakistan’s participation in two Afghan wars as a grave error, asserting that the terrorism currently being faced by the country is largely the consequence of those decisions.
Asif reflected on Islamabad’s strategic realignment with Washington after 1999, particularly in the context of developments in Afghanistan, which he said caused long-term damage to Pakistan.
Highlighting the fallout of the post-September 11, 2001, geopolitical shift, Asif said the price Pakistan paid for supporting the United States in its global war on terror was enormous.
“Pakistan was treated worse than a piece of toilet paper and was used for a purpose and then thrown away,” he said.
The Defence Minister noted that Pakistan once again sided with Washington during the US-led war in Afghanistan after 2001, a move that also involved turning against the Taliban.
He said that although the United States eventually withdrew from the region, Pakistan was left to deal with the aftermath, including prolonged violence, rising radicalisation and economic challenges.
Asif also questioned the narrative that Pakistan’s participation in the Afghan conflicts was motivated by religious duty.
He admitted that many Pakistanis were mobilised to fight under the banner of jihad and said that this framing proved to be misleading and severely damaging to the country’s long-term stability.
Addressing lawmakers, Asif stated that “two former military dictators (Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf) had joined the war in Afghanistan, not for the sake of Islam, but to appease a superpower.”
He further said, “We deny our history and do not accept our mistakes. Terrorism is a blowback of the mistakes committed by dictators in the past.”
The minister emphasised that the damage suffered by Pakistan due to these policies cannot be undone.
“The losses we suffered can never be compensated,” Asif said, describing the country’s past decisions as “irreversible” mistakes.
Asif also claimed that Pakistan’s education system underwent ideological changes during these periods to justify involvement in the wars, adding that these shifts in narratives continue to influence the country’s social and political fabric even today.
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