Pakistan Has Done More Than Anyone For Afghan Peace: COAS Bajwa  

Says we have paid the highest military, economic, political and social cost and the world should acknowledge that.

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th November, 2018) Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reiterated Pakistan’s position to the Afghan peace process.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Major General Asif Ghafoor quoted COAS Bajwa in a series of tweets.

“Pakistan has successfully fought against terrorism while also contributing to regional peace. Pakistan has done much more for peace in Afghanistan than any other country”, the COAS said.

“We have paid the highest military, economic, political and social cost and the world should acknowledge that. We shall continue to contribute towards peace in Afghanistan but Pakistan’s honour and Pakistan’s security shall always stay premier,” the army chief further said.

The statement comes after US President Donald Trump launched a tirade against Pakistan in his interview with Fox News.

US President Donald Trump while speaking to Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday had alleged that Pakistan does “not do a damn thing” for the US and accused it of helping Osama bin Laden hide in the country.

Responding to this, PM Imran, while asking US President Trump to put his record straight, on Monday said no Pakistani was involved in 9/11 (September 11, 2001 attack) but the country decided to participate in the US war on terror.

"Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump's tirade against Pakistan as; no Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pakistan decided to participate in US War on Terror, Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war and over $123 billion loss was inflicted to its economy and US "aid" was a miniscule $20 billion," the Prime Minister said in a series of tweets posted on his twitter handle.

"Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140,000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops and reportedly $1trillion spending on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before," he said.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan's tribal areas were devastated and millions of people uprooted from their homes. "The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Pakistanis," he added.

"Pakistan continues to provide free lines of ground and air communications (GLOCs/ALOCs)," he said and questioned, can Mr Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?" The Prime Minister's tweets came after the US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox news aired on November 18, accused Pakistan of not doing "a damn thing for us" and defended his administration's decision to withhold hundreds of millions of Dollars in military aid to Islamabad.

Prime Minister Khan in another tweet in the evening further said, "Trump's false assertions add insult to the injury Pakistan has suffered in US War on Terror in terms of lives lost and destabilized and economic costs.""He needs to be informed about historical facts. Pakistan has suffered enough fighting US's war. Now we will do what is best for our people and our interests," he maintained.

The Prime Minister's latest comments came after the US President in a tweet on Monday said, "....We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That's ENDING!".