Ambassador deplores attempt to scapegoat Pakistan for Taliban takeover

WASHINGTON: Pakistan took strong exception to a claim advanced by a Congressman accusing its military of “dictating” the Taliban and being behind the disintegration of the Afghan National Army in its fight against the insurgent group, leading to a hasty withdrawal of the United States troops from Afghanistan.

In a letter addressed to US President Joe Biden shortly ahead of the fall of Kabul, Michael Waltz, a House of Representatives member of the Republican Party, claimed Pakistan “is complicit with Taliban advance and is choosing not to coordinate with the ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces]”.

“At worst, the Pakistani military and intelligence services may be directly aiding the Taliban offensive.”

Responding to the letter, Pakistan’s ambassador in the US, Asad Majeed Khan, observed “Islamabad and Washington have, in fact, been working together towards an inclusive political settlement” in Afghanistan.

“Our two countries share a fundamental interest in ensuring that Afghanistan would never again become a sanctuary for terrorist groups,” Khan said in his letter addressed to Waltz.

Noting while recent events have overtaken some of Waltz’s recommendations, Khan said it was “unfortunate that your letter mischaracterises Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan”.

“The contention that Pakistan’s ‘military strategy’ was somehow the decisive factor in the defeat of the 300,000-strong Afghan National Defense and Security Forces — trained and equipped at the cost of at least $83 billion to the American taxpayer — does not square with the US government’s own assessments about the issues of low morale, desertions, and ‘ghost soldiers’ that had long plagued the ANDSF.

As the [US] Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction had been reporting [until it was barred from doing so by the Pentagon], the Afghan government had been steadily losing territory to the Taliban for many years.”

The collapse of the Ashraf Ghani regime was, therefore, “shocking” but “hardly surprising”, he said.

“As someone who has served his country in uniform and with distinction, you know that demoralised soldiers do not fight for a corrupt, kleptocratic leadership that will bolt at the first hint of trouble,” Khan told Waltz.

For its part, Pakistan has made it clear that it has no favourites in Afghanistan and that it would work with any government in Kabul that has the backing of the people of that country, he said.

He pointed out Pakistan had joined the US, China, and Russia in explicitly opposing any effort to impose a government by force in Kabul.

“We continued to urge both the Afghan government and the Taliban to show flexibility and engage more meaningfully in order to secure a political settlement and a comprehensive ceasefire. Unfortunately, neither side was in any mood to listen.

Even after the fall of the Ghani regime, we have continued to support the formation of a broad-based government in Kabul that represents Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity and preserves the impressive social and democratic gains it has made since 2001.”

Khan recalled that on Ghani fled, “Pakistan was hosting a diverse group of Afghan politicians — including leaders from the former Northern Alliance — as part of its efforts to promote a common understanding on Afghanistan’s political future”.

“The swift collapse of the Afghan government has, if anything, proven the futility of investing more effort and money into finding a military solution to a political problem,” he said.

Recounting some of the efforts Pakistan is making in evacuating Americans and their local aides from Kabul, the ambassador said Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul was issuing visas to foreign nationals stranded in that country.

“Our doors and borders are open to the Afghan people who still look to Pakistan as their first port of call in moments of distress — notwithstanding the erstwhile Afghan regime’s deliberate campaign to poison relations between our two countries,” he said.

“Pakistan International Airlines has been ferrying foreign diplomats, journalists, and international aid workers out of Afghanistan. Pakistan has also been working closely with US authorities on the ground in Kabul and in Islamabad to support the safe and orderly evacuation of Americans and Afghans from Hamid Karzai International Airport.”