Says our advice was not heeded and we were scapegoated
News Desk
National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf, in an interview, said Pakistan did not aid and abet anyone in Afghanistan and termed the policy employed by the United States and others in the war-torn country as a failure.
Speaking to BBC’s Stephen Sackur on HARDtalk, Moeed, objecting to the host’s opening remarks, said “there was a policy employed by the United States and others who were there in Afghanistan and it was a failing policy.”
The national security advisor reminded Sackur that Pakistan was the only country that had repeatedly stated that there was no military solution to the Afghan issue.
“Our advice was not heeded. We kept saying to negotiate from a position of strength and we weren’t listened to. We are blamed and scapegoated.
The results are in front of you. The facts should be for what they are,” Moeed added. Answering a question about whether Pakistan’s security has been enhanced or diminished since the Taliban take over of Afghanistan, the NSA said it depended on how the international community played its role in the future in regards to the region.
When Moeed was asked about the incumbent government’s negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the host also referred to the recent proceedings in the Supreme Court of Pakistan during which Prime Minister Imran Khan was questioned over the government’s ongoing talks with the militant outfit.
“Is the government going to sign a document of defeat with those who killed these children? Are we going to surrender once again?,” Sackur quoted the bench’s remarks, which referred to the 2014 Peshawar Army Public School (APS) attack in which more than 145 people, mostly schoolchildren, were martyred.
