NEW YORK: Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Friday expressed concernover a White House statement, saying the United States (US) military hasbeen given the authority to eliminate militant safe havens in both Pakistanand Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Urdu service of Voice of America (VOA), thedefence minister said he had taken the statement “very seriously”.
The White House statement was released in an e-mail late Tuesday thatlisted President Donald Trump’s foreign policy accomplishments during hisfirst year in office. “President Trump’s conditions-based South AsiaStrategy provides commanders with the authority and resources needed todeny the terrorists safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the WhiteHouse statement read.
Reacting to the statement, Dastgir Khan told VOA, “We want to make it clearto the US that Pakistan is a sovereign country and its sovereignty must berespected.” He also said, “Instead of using these words, which can beinterpreted in any way, Pakistan should be consulted.” He added,“Statements like these are taking us away from our mission for establishingpeace in Afghanistan.”
At a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday, Joint Staff Director Marine CorpsLieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said the US military did not“contemplate military operations inside Pakistan.”
“Through a variety of measures, we look to gain Pakistani cooperation andassistance as we pursue operations in Afghanistan, but no, we’re notplanning to conduct military operations inside Pakistan,” McKenzie said.
Pakistan-US relations have been deteriorating rapidly over the last fewyears and received further dents last month when the Trump administrationdecided to cut all security aid to Islamabad until the country took strongsteps to deal with terrorist networks allegedly operating from itsterritory.
The US had long accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to the leaders ofAfghan Taliban and other militant organisations. But Pakistan had alwaysdenied the accusation on different forums.
According to media reports, US officials were also discussing thepossibility of expanding the scope of drone strikes conducted insidePakistan. Since 2004, the US had carried out hundreds of drone attacks,mostly along the Afghan border in northwest Pakistan. The intensity of theattacks had subsided in recent years.
In his State of the Union address, Trump did not mention Pakistan directlybut he did say that he had asked the Congress to pass legislation to helpensure that US assistance in dollars “always serve American interests, andshould only go to America’s friends.”