WASHINGTON – Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal in an interview with the ‘TheWashington Times’ said that US needs Pakistan if President Trump’s war planfor Afghanistan is to have a chance of succeeding.
He warned that bad blood between Washington and Islamabad risks triggeringan era of instability across the region.
Uncertainty over the bilateral relationship — and the spillover effect inAfghanistan — has intensified since early January, when the Trumpadministration suspended at least $900 million in security aid to Pakistan.The US said Islamabad was providing sanctuary to certain extremist andterrorist groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network.
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal vehemently denied the charges and called fordirect talks to address what he said was increasing mistrust between US andPakistani officials.
During a wide-ranging discussion at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, healso spoke of China’s growing economic influence in Pakistan. He stressedthat Islamabad’s wish is to have a relationship with Washington that couldone day grow “beyond the prism of security.”
“Pakistan’s partnership is most critical for the success of the Trumpadministration’s strategy,” Iqbal said.
Ahsan Iqbal spoke with The Washington Times as Deputy Secretary of StateJohn Sullivan was telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the United Statescould resume security aid if Islamabad engages in “decisive and sustainedactions to address our concerns, including targeting all terrorist groupsoperating within its territory, without distinction.”
Mr. Sullivan told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that US officials“acknowledge the enormous sacrifices the Pakistani people and securityforces have made to combat terrorism,” but he suggested that the Trumpadministration is in no hurry to reopen the aid spigot.
Mr. Iqbal flatly dismissed the administration’s claims of Pakistani supportfor terrorist groups. He said Islamabad has responded with an aggressivefour-year internal military campaign against extremists — including theHaqqani network — along the porous, remote border with Afghanistan.
“There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist,” he said. “We are going aftereveryone. We have no favorites.”
While expressing optimism that U.S.-Pakistani relations can be repaired, hepointedly noted that Islamabad could fill the gap in American security aidby purchasing weaponry from Russia and China.
“Obviously,” he said, “if security concerns are denied, every nation has alegitimate right to look for alternatives.”
He said his government’s response to the Trump administration’s criticismshas been “very measured because we still believe and think that thesolution in Afghanistan is not possible without close collaboration betweenPakistan and the United States.”