ISLAMABAD —
Pakistan’s military chief Saturday slammed Russia’s military attack onUkraine, calling for immediate cessation of what he described as a “hugetragedy” being inflicted on a smaller country.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s rare criticism of Moscow evidently was atvariance with that of his country’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan,who has advocated Islamabad’s neutrality in the conflict and refused tocriticize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
“Sadly, the Russian invasion against Ukraine is very unfortunate asthousands of people have been killed, millions made refugees and half ofUkraine destroyed,” Bajwa told an international security dialogue inIslamabad.
“Despite legitimate security concerns of Russia, its aggression against asmaller country cannot be condoned. Pakistan has consistently called for animmediate cease-fire and cessation of hostilities,” Bajwa said.
The general advocated support for an urgent dialogue between all sides toresolve the conflict, praising the Ukrainians for effectively resisting theRussian aggression.
Bajwa used the example of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in his televisedspeech to caution Pakistan’s massive arch-rival India against launchinganother war with his country.
“This has given a heart to smaller countries that they can still defendtheir territory with smaller but agile forces against an aggression by abigger country by carrying out selective modernization in equipment andadopting noble ideas,” the Pakistani military chief said.
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Critics noted Bajwa’s comments have marked a significant departure from thepolicy Prime Minister Khan has been advocating on the Ukraine crisis.
Khan, who faces an opposition-launched parliamentary no-confidence voteSunday, maintains Pakistan made a mistake by joining the West during theCold War and wants to remain neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to havegood ties with both the countries.
The Pakistani leader has refused to condemn Putin and publicly criticizedWestern diplomats in Islamabad for urging his government in a rare jointletter last month to denounce Moscow’s aggression against Kyiv.
“Why would we condemn Russia? Are we your slaves that we would do whateveryou say?” he asked in televised speeches to large recent public ralliesorganized by his ruling party.
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