Islamabad: PM Imran Khan said since he began politics, he wanted a sovereign policy for Pakistan, which was not dependent on any other state and was solely for the country’s benefit.
Citing an example of a foreign policy that is dependent on other countries’ interests, he noted Pakistan supported the United States in its “war on terror” that resulted in several casualties on home soil.
“I was against this war since day one. No Pakistani was involved in the 9/11 attacks,” the prime minister said, noting that when Pakistan partook in the Afghan war earlier, it was termed as “jihad”, but when the US invaded Afghanistan, Washington said it was going into Kabul to defeat terrorism.
PM Imran Khan said Pakistan suffered heavily, in terms of human lives and capital. “As many as 80,000 Pakistanis were martyred, 3.5 million people were displaced, and the country suffered losses worth $150 billion.”
The premier slammed the US for bombing Pakistan despite Islamabad being part of the war on terror. He said that dictators were known for accepting foreign pressure to gain acceptability.
But during former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf’s rule, only 10 drone attacks took place in Pakitan, while during PPP and PML-N’s tenure, a total of 400 attacks took place.
“Shouldn’t democratic have stood up for the people?” he asked, adding that former president Asif Ali Zardari had said he did not care for the collateral damage that was incurred during the drone attacks.
