Terse rejoinder: ‘Don’t blame Pakistan for Afghan imbroglio’
NYT’s May 12 editorial is biased and negates complex history of this prolonged conflict, says Ambassador Jilani
Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jillani at New York receiving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at JFK International Airport. PHOTO: PM's OFFICE
WASHINGTON:
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States on Friday censured the New York Times for running an editorial that blamed Islamabad for the Afghan imbroglio, stating that Pakistan could not be blamed for the mess which was the result of the international community’s collective failure.
“The May 12 editorial about Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan is biased and negates the complex history of this prolonged conflict,” Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani wrote in a terse rejoinder to the NYT’s editorial page editor.
Allegations of duplicity and ‘double game’ were extremely painful as Pakistan suffered the most because of the war in Afghanistan, he added.
“Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the mess in Afghanistan which is the result of the collective failure of the international community,” the ambassador said.
Alluding to colossal losses Pakistan suffered in the wake of the war on terror in Afghanistan, the ambassador stated that hundreds of suicide bombings and tens of thousands of civilian casualties “are the direct result of the US-led war in Afghanistan after 9/11”.
“Instead of complaining the heavy cost imposed on us due to sustained external intervention in our neighbourhood, Pakistan has consistently cooperated with the United States and coalition forces in sharing intelligence and decimating terror outfits operating from the region,” he maintained.
Jilani drew the publication’s attention to the fact that since 2009, Pakistani forces had been engaged in incremental operations to clear Pakistani soil of all terrorist networks “concentrated in the area because of competing interests and mutual rivalries of major powers”.
“It is Pakistan’s military which ‘fractured the back of Taliban’ through indiscriminate counter-terrorism operations.”
Instead of putting the entire blame on Pakistan, the ambassador said, it would have been better if the editorial also commented on the protracted Afghan refugee issue and the lack of border management among the underlying reasons for regional instability.
“Omitting such fundamental questions that impede a long-term solution to the Afghan problem smack partisanship on part of the New York Times.”
Ambassador Jilani made it clear that Pakistan did not “benefit from instability in Afghanistan and always wished them peace and prosperity”.
“To this end, we are pursuing mutually beneficial economic integration through the policy of a peaceful neighbourhood.”
Jilani pointed out that Pakistan played an entirely neutral role in Afghan elections and offered all possible assistance to Ashraf Ghani’s government to find a political solution in his country.
Referring to the Quadrilateral group, involving the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Ambassador said that the group agreed that long-term peace in Afghanistan could only be achieved through reconciliation between Afghan stakeholders.
“It is imperative that this peace initiative be given a chance to succeed what the war has failed to achieve in the last 15 years,” the diplomat concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2016.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States on Friday censured the New York Times for running an editorial that blamed Islamabad for the Afghan imbroglio, stating that Pakistan could not be blamed for the mess which was the result of the international community’s collective failure.
“The May 12 editorial about Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan is biased and negates the complex history of this prolonged conflict,” Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani wrote in a terse rejoinder to the NYT’s editorial page editor.
Allegations of duplicity and ‘double game’ were extremely painful as Pakistan suffered the most because of the war in Afghanistan, he added.
“Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the mess in Afghanistan which is the result of the collective failure of the international community,” the ambassador said.
Alluding to colossal losses Pakistan suffered in the wake of the war on terror in Afghanistan, the ambassador stated that hundreds of suicide bombings and tens of thousands of civilian casualties “are the direct result of the US-led war in Afghanistan after 9/11”.
“Instead of complaining the heavy cost imposed on us due to sustained external intervention in our neighbourhood, Pakistan has consistently cooperated with the United States and coalition forces in sharing intelligence and decimating terror outfits operating from the region,” he maintained.
Jilani drew the publication’s attention to the fact that since 2009, Pakistani forces had been engaged in incremental operations to clear Pakistani soil of all terrorist networks “concentrated in the area because of competing interests and mutual rivalries of major powers”.
“It is Pakistan’s military which ‘fractured the back of Taliban’ through indiscriminate counter-terrorism operations.”
Instead of putting the entire blame on Pakistan, the ambassador said, it would have been better if the editorial also commented on the protracted Afghan refugee issue and the lack of border management among the underlying reasons for regional instability.
“Omitting such fundamental questions that impede a long-term solution to the Afghan problem smack partisanship on part of the New York Times.”
Ambassador Jilani made it clear that Pakistan did not “benefit from instability in Afghanistan and always wished them peace and prosperity”.
“To this end, we are pursuing mutually beneficial economic integration through the policy of a peaceful neighbourhood.”
Jilani pointed out that Pakistan played an entirely neutral role in Afghan elections and offered all possible assistance to Ashraf Ghani’s government to find a political solution in his country.
Referring to the Quadrilateral group, involving the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Ambassador said that the group agreed that long-term peace in Afghanistan could only be achieved through reconciliation between Afghan stakeholders.
“It is imperative that this peace initiative be given a chance to succeed what the war has failed to achieve in the last 15 years,” the diplomat concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2016.