Pakistan rejects 'insinuations' in Trump's Afghanistan speech

5 takeaways from Trump's Afghan speech
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26 August, 2017

Even at the best of times there was little love lost between Pakistan and America.

In his first major policy address, Donald Trump declared he would dramatically alter American strategy in Afghanistan, marking a new chapter in the longest war in US history. "Pakistan must adopt a different approach".

Trump's decision marks a complete shift from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration (2009-2017), which after having deployed around 1,00,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010, had opted for a phased withdrawal of troops. In several other interviews, he kept on mentioning the unusual concern over Pakistan's nuclear weapons and their safety. He said Washington could "no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations".

The best case scenario for peace in Afghanistan is the withdrawal of United States forces from the country and multilateral negotiations between main stakeholders - Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and China - to establish a consensus government, Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan says.

Nazir Hussain said the statement by Trump regarding Pakistan can be broken down into three prongs.

"We have put people on notice that if you're providing safe haven to terrorists, be warned: we are going to engage those providing safe haven and ask them to change what they are doing", Tillerson said. This practical support was in line with the ethos of friendship and in the greater interests of global peace and security. The meeting of the National Security Committee of Pakistan (NSC) was held on Thursday. It is also possible that United States drone strike on the Pakistan -based, ISI supported Taliban and its leadership will be stepped up. The US expanded the Central Intelligence Agency network in Pakistan against the norms of friendship.

"No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders", it said in a statement. Beyond the stand-off with Pakistan, Trump's new strategy also authorizes U.S. generals to deploy more American troops to support Afghan government forces in what is now a 16-year-old conflict. "The measure for success and exit under this strategy remain vague and nearly identical to previous administrations".

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was defiant in a telephone interview with The Associated Press: "We are not giving our guns to any one and our Taliban are fighting until the last USA soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan". Mr Muller had flown all the way from the U.S. to sign as witness.

"India has provided developmental assistance, they have provided economic assistance, they're hosting an important economic conference in India next week", she said, adding, that the U.S. recognises India's contributions in Afghanistan.

It is very unfortunate to see that President Trump has chosen this moment, when there is political polarisation in Pakistan and the Pakistan Army is fighting its heart and soul against the terrorists. PM Modi has become aggressive against China and has deliberately increased its forces on the Chinese boarder. We also need to bear in mind that Russia, Iran and China have close contacts with the Taliban.

Trump had warned that Pakistan's support for the Afghanistan Taliban and the Haqqani extremist network would have consequences, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson+ has now spelled these out. Where is the fault of Pakistan?

He added that "China would like to continue to maintain communication and coordination on the Afghanistan problem with the U.S. side".

Reiterating that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict, the Foreign Office said, "Pakistan reiterates its view that there is no exclusive military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan".

"Afghan war can not be fought in Pakistan", the meeting, which was also attended by all services chiefs and senior cabinet members, agreed after a threadbare discussion on the Trump administration's South Asia Strategy. We are not a nation to be thrown under the bus for sacrificing our soldiers and innocent people in fighting someone else's war.


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