ALI HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Tuesday called for “ruthlessly candid” dialogue with the United States amid suspension of Strategic Dialogue and military assistance by the Trump administration.

“The recent suspension of military aid by the US comes in the wake of a more grave suspension, which is the suspension of the strategic dialogue for more than a year between the US and Pakistan,” the defence minister said, while speaking at a public-talk on “Contours of Security Environment of Pakistan,” organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).

“Now all veils are off…It is time for a courteous yet ruthlessly candid dialogue between Pakistan and the United States,” he said, adding the Trump administration has suspended Strategic Dialogue with Pakistan, yet it complains of failure of high-level communication, which is bound to fail until backed up by consistent dialogue at working level.

The Trump administration recently confirmed that it has suspended Pakistan’s military assistance following President Trump through a tweet accused Pakistan of giving the US nothing but “lies and deceit”. “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump said in a tweet on Jan 01, 2018.

“The way forward is not through threats, notices or suspensions of supports,” Khurram Dastagir said, adding that this distracts everyone from, the prize — the sustainable peace in a democratic Afghanistan.

He asserted that the US has fought its longest war in Afghanistan by spending nearly a trillion dollars and sacrificing more than 2,000 US soldiers, besides thousands other got injured.

“What is the result?...The Graveyard of Empires has not closed its gates. As Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced in June 2017: We “are not winning in Afghanistan right now,”…The denial is due to not winning,” he said, adding Pakistan is the scapegoat, because “billions and billions” is a handy excuse to forestall realistic rigorous analysis.

“Billions and billions” is a callously transactional, counterproductive and offensive argument to Pakistan, he said, adding the countrymen, armed forces, economy, and infrastructure have suffered losses and pain beyond imagination during the anti-terror alliance with the United States since 2001.

“Shall we put a price tag on use of ground lines of communication, air lines of communication with an average of 300 sorties daily, use of ports and air-bases, the matchless intelligence cooperation that decimated al Qaeda, the three million Afghan refuges we continue to host, and thousands of Pakistani civilians and armed forces personnel who lost and continue to lose their lives by hand of those who operate from across the border in Afghanistan... the list continues,” he added.

To a question, he said that the facility of ground and air lines of communication to the US forces in Afghanistan as well as military cooperation and intelligence sharing between Pakistan and the US are still underway.

However, in the case of further steps by the US, he said: “We have to keep our engagement with the US…we will decide at an appropriate time in consultation with the armed forces as to what kind of step we should take.”

He said that allowing the ground and air lines of communications to the US and NATO forces was a ‘difficult’ legacy of Pervez Musharraf, adding the US would continue to rely on Pakistan for transporting good and other equipment to its forces stationed in Afghanistan.

He said that amid worsening relations with Russia and Iran, the northern route was not viable for the US as an alternate option.

On the military and economic assistance, he said that there was a surge in the reimbursement of CSF in 2012 but soon after that 62 percent of the military assistance and 78 percent of the economic aid was not provided to Pakistan.

The defence minister stated in categorical term that the Afghan war will not be fought on Pakistani soil, adding, “We have eliminated safe havens and are clearing the remnants of terrorists from our soil.”

He pointed out that 43 percent of Afghanistan’s districts are outside the control or influence of Afghan government. “Half of Afghanistan is practically a safe haven,” he asserted, adding it is convenient to blame Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, but the US has not lifted a finger to help Pakistan fence the border, which the country has begun successfully.

“It is convenient to blame Pakistan for the US failure in pacifying Afghanistan, yet the US has not lifted a finger to pursue internal reconciliation seriously. Instead, its finger is on the “kill” button in Afghanistan,” he added.

He stated that Pakistan sees Afghanistan as a sovereign neighbour and wishes to see its neighbour prospering as a democracy. “We need to choose cooperation over castigation and the resilient democracy of Pakistan will continue to rise,” he added.

The minister asserted that Pakistan’s defence is robust and its vigilant and highly-trained armed forces continue to protect and defend its land, sea, and air borders.

With regard to India, he said that New Delhi has an unremitting hostile stance and is a belligerent and highly militarized neighbour. The ‘Cold Start’ doctrine against Pakistan has already been confirmed by India, adding that the past year was the deadliest year for Indian ceasefire violations on the LoC.

He stated that for nearly two decades, the United States has deemed India as an ally to counter China and has been trying to convince Pakistan that ‘India is not a threat.’ However, he said that threat is calculated on capacity, not the intent, and both the capacity and intent of India are hostile towards Pakistan.

On the present government’s diplomacy to improve Pakistan’s ties with various countries, he said that it has not only revitalized longstanding relations with both Saudi Arabia and Turkey but has also made progress with countries like Iran and Russia. About China, he stated that as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) materializes, relations between the iron brothers are firming up further with each passing day.