*KARACHI: *National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua hastermed Afghanistan a wound of the world and the region that needs to behealed.

“Afghanistan is a story of pains … it is a story of injuries … it is awound of the world and also of the region, which should be healed asquickly as possible,” Janjua told Lebanon-based news channel *Al-Mayadeen*link> in a recent interview.

The NSA said innocent people in both Afghanistan and Pakistan weresuffering since the Soviet occupation of Kabul in 1979. But now, he added,peace was the only way forward, Tribune has reported.

“I know how to fight… we as a bold, brave, brilliant and beautiful nationwe also know how to fight. But I’m a man who believes in peace,” he said.

“I’m a man who wants to invest in peace, because I believe that while wardictates the world order but parallel to that is also the peace which isactually evolving our world.”

Janjua said Post 9/11 Pakistan stood with the international community andnot with those who inflicted the atrocious attack on the United States.

“…every investment has been made to win the Afghan war… unfortunately wehave not invested in winning peace,” he said. “And that is how more than 40percent of Afghanistan is controlled by Taliban.”

On the prevalent blame-game, he said: “It’s a strange moment in our historythat the US and all others are blaming us that we are [supporting themilitants].”

He added the Taliban accuse us of supporting the US and vice versa. “Soboth are blaming us, who’s right?”

Pakistan has lost over 60,000 lives in the war that followed the Afghanwar, Janjua remarked, adding that it will continue to contribute towardspeace across the Durand Line.

“If we were supporting the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqanis, why are weunable to use the influence to stop the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan fromwaging a war against us, as they have same grandmothers?,” he asked.

Asked if the Afghan conflict was a burden on Pakistan, the NSA said: “It’sa burden for the world, it’s a burden for the humanity … people ofAfghanistan are not children of a lesser God, so are the people ofPakistan. Our heart cries out and it bleeds when we are misunderstood.”

*‘If we can’t be friends, let’s not be enemies’*

Commenting on relations with India, he said it was the “responsibility ofmature nations to stay in touch and both of us [him and counterpart AjitDoval] are committed to carry the relationship forward.

Both the national security advisers have met on several occasions in thepast to normalise relations between the nuclear arch-rivals.

Terming the Kashmir issue the bone of contention between the two countries,he said he apprised Doval about brutalities being committed by theoccupying forces in the territory.

“Two nuclear powers cannot remain enemies forever… because if that happenswe will destroy each other, so should we be enemies forever? The answer isno. If the answer is no then where do we go?,” he remarked.

“Nuclear capability is a matter of survival for Pakistan. It is ourcompulsion that we have to defend ourselves. Our nuclear capability is onlyand only to defend our sovereignty… to defend our country. And we cannotaccept that our sovereignty is under threat.”

Janjua said Pakistan was ready to talk on all issues, but unfortunatelyIndia was the one which defied talking. “I have to say that they have evendefeated this bilateralism between the two of us. I do feel that for theresponsible, credible, mature nations, the one way that they have to seekpeace is by way of dialogue,” he added.

“The bottom line is if we can’t be friends, let’s not be enemies…”