Daily Times

Former Pakistan president General (r) Pervez Musharraf has said that the US treats Pakistan according to its needs and “ditches us” when it does not require Islamabad

In an interview with Voice of America, Musharraf said that Pak-US relations had suffered quite a blow and were at “the lowest ebb”. The former president said the US and Pakistan should sit together and resolve the issues. “This connects to Afghanistan. There are allegations against Pakistan, and both the countries have their grievances.”

Replying to a question about fraught relations between Pakistan and US, the former military dictator said: “US has supported India very openly from the Cold War era. And now again, the US is aligning itself with India against Pakistan, this affects us directly. We would like the United Nations to examine India’s role in Afghanistan. A one-sided approach to the problem is negative.” The former army chief said, “US comes to us when they need us, and they ‘ditch’ us when they don’t – it should not be this way.”

Musharraf said that Pakistan had always been under influence. He added that Pakistan was in the West’s cap in the Cold War, the most loyal allies of the US. “But now that relations are tense, Pakistan has looked at China for support and friendship. However, that should not be at the cost of losing bilateral relations with the US,” he added.

Referring to Dr Shakil Afridi’s issue, the former president said: “Had he been in power he would have negotiated a deal with the United States for Dr Shakil Afridi’s release.” He added, “You can make a decision of national interest without disturbing national policy and security.” He explained that he did not consider this point of contention between the U.S and Pakistan as “unsolvable”.

He said that Pakistan’s policy in this case was an “irritant to the United States and added that Washington would have probably done the same if faced with a similar situation. “Would you allow a US citizen dealing with the ISI on a very, very sensitive issue of national importance to the United States?” he asked.

“We can resolve this irritant and exchange more accommodating stance from the United States… and Afghanistan because we have a terrorist sitting there, Fazlullah,” he said. He continued “The United States also knows that he’s there.”

Speaking on the Pakistan-India ties, the former president said there was an inherent bias towards India’s treatment as both possessed nuclear arms, but no questions were raised on India. “Nobody asks India to control their assets. Pakistan became a nuclear state because India posed an undeniable existential threat.”

He continued: “The US should’ve stopped them, we’ve been loyal to them throughout,” he lamented. Musharraf recalled that Pakistan and India were on the path of reconciliation during his tenure. He claimed that peace plan was strategised by him and was put in implementation by both countries. “We were working on the peace plan because both sides wanted to have peace. But this is not the case anymore. They want to undo us.” He said that Incumbent Indian Prime Minister Narendar Modi wanted to enforce supremacy in India and was not an advocate of peace talks.

Published in Daily Times, May 27^th 2018.