BEIJING – Chinese government as well as private and government run mediahas relentlessly defended Islamabad against US aggressive policy.
While offering the background of US-Pakistan relations and how Islamabadtook unpopular decisions in war against terrorism, a recent article inChinese newspaper Global Times said Washington has paid back Pakistan’scooperation with enmity.
It said Pakistan was safe and stable country before the US invasion ofAfghanistan.
The article said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf decided to join handswith the US in the war on terror under huge pressure and launched acrackdown against the Afghan Taliban.
It said overthrowing the Taliban government in Kabul was purely a move tocater to the US since neither the Taliban nor Al-Qaeda hurt Pakistan’sinterests.
The author says the country sacrificed a lot with its decision to moveagainst the Taliban.
The Times wrote that Pakistan bore the brunt of its decision in the shapeof deadly terror attacks launched by the insurgents who plunged Pakistan ina decade long turmoil.
Criticizing US State Department announcement regarding suspension ofsecurity assistance to Pakistan, the author said the turmoil caused by theUS war deterred foreign investors, triggered capital outflow and wasteddevelopment opportunities. “It is estimated the war on terror has causedlosses of hundreds of billions of dollars to Pakistan, a figure far beyondthe US aid worth $33 billion,” the article said.
“In fact, the so-called US security aid to Pakistan is what the US shouldpay. The US military used Pakistani bases; the US air force occupied itsairspace; the US ground transport vehicles passed over its territory, allof which damaged its infrastructure. The cancelled assistance, estimated at$250 million, cannot even cover the road tolls and the maintenance fees ofthe highways. In addition, the participation of Pakistani soldiers in thefighting has greatly reduced US casualties.”
Rejecting US claims that Islamabad was not willing to take indiscriminateaction against militants, it said “It’s not that Pakistan was not fullyengaged in the war on terror, but terrorists are too obstinate. “
“Over the past 16 years, the US organized hundreds of thousands of NATOtroops, took out advanced, powerful weapons and spent trillions of dollarsunder the guise of combating terrorism. However, it still failed to rootout terror and extremist groups in Afghanistan but instead pinned the blameon Pakistan”
Fighting the Pakistan’s case, the paper argued that if the fence put up onthe US-Mexico border with razor-sharp concertina wire cannot stop Mexicansfrom entering the US then how can. the 2,400-kilometer-longPakistan-Afghanistan border along intertwined mountains and valleys canstop civilians from crossing, let alone terrorists.
Urging the need for US to cooperate with Pakistan and other stakeholders,the paper said censuring Pakistan is of no help in solving the issue.
The Chinese newspaper said Pakistan’s cooperation with US was imperative towin the war and it would definitely collapse withoutit.
If Pakistan’s national interests and security cannot be ensured, the regionwill never see peace and stability. But if Trump’s real intention is tomaintain US military presence in the region by keeping the turmoil alive,he will probably have his way with this new policy.