ISLAMABAD – The former chief of the military intelligence of Pakistan, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Asad Durrani has claimed that the United States wants military in Afghanistan from Pakistan.
In an interview with the Russia Today, US wants Pakistan to establish and maintain a military presence in Afghanistan but will not pay for the cost of such an expedition.
Durrani went on to claim that there has been no change in the new US policy, apparently guestuirng that Washington was supposed to prioritize peace and stability in the country and region rather than opting military presence.
“Essentially the policy remains the same and that is you have to dig in Afghanistan, stay there, keep the bases, keep the military presence. That is more important than either peace there or settlement there,” he added.
He also ruled out that Pakistan is dependent to America as he was gesturing towards the recent US decisions to reduce military help to Pakistan.
“Dependence on America? That finished a long time ago. I think this is a game – one of those myths that have been created. These billions of dollars never came,” he said.
This comes as Washington has increased pressures on Pakistan regarding the safe havens of the terror groups using the Pakistani soil for the attacks, mainly in Afghanistan, carried out by the notorious Haqqani terrorist network.