The days of Pakistan depending on the US for its military and other requirements are over, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has signaled in an exclusive interview with Arab News.
“If one source dries up … we have no option but to go to another source,” he said.
The prime minister said most of Pakistan’s “frontline weapons were of US origin but that has changed over the years. We have Chinese and European systems. Recently, for the first time we have introduced Russian attack helicopters. So it’s more diversified now.”
Abbasi, who became prime minister in August after his predecessor Nawaz Sharif was barred from public office by the Supreme Court, said there was concern in Pakistan over US President Donald Trump’s new South Asia policy, announced the same month. Trump accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists and giving them sanctuary on its soil, leading to continued instability in Afghanistan.
In what Abbasi described as a “candid” discussion with US Vice President Mike Pence at the UN General Assembly last month, he said Trump’s policy statement had caused “a lot of apprehension” about “what it meant for Pakistan-US relations.”
“Whatever concerns they have, we have shown our willingness to address those concerns,” Abbasi said.
“We can categorically state that we do not provide any sanctuaries to anybody … we have a common objective that is to destroy terror and bring peace to Afghanistan.
“Much of the area bordering Pakistan is controlled by the Taliban. The people we are fighting in Pakistan today, their sanctuaries are in Afghanistan, their leadership is living there, the planning is done there, the logistical bases are there, and they regularly cross the border and attack our installations.”
Abbasi said Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan through a solution that is “owned and led by the Afghans,” and cautioned that Washington’s desire to add India to the mix would be detrimental.
“We do not believe that injecting India into the Pakistan-US relationship will help resolve anything, especially in Afghanistan where we don’t see any role for India.”
The prime minister said Pakistan wanted the world to recognize Pakistan’s efforts in fighting the “world’s war” on terror.
“Nobody has fought a bigger war against terror than we have with our own resources,” he said. “Even the most conservative economic estimate of Pakistan’s losses in this period is over $120 billion,” in addition to the immense loss of life, both civilian and military, with “200,000 of our troops deployed” fighting this war even today.
He said Pakistan will not devalue the rupee or seek help from the International Monetary Fund to address its fiscal challenges.