Sharing his vision about the relationship with the US, he said Pakistan will not be treated as a hired gun of the United States anymore. “We would like a proper relationship with the US,” he stressed.
Giving the instance of Pak-China ties, he said, “our relationship with China is not one-dimensional. It’s a trade relationship between two countries. We want a similar relationship with the US.”
The premier turned down the impression of a Twitter war with US President Donald Trump, asserting that he tweeted in response to the US President to set the record right.
“The exchange was about being blamed for deeply flawed U.S. policies — the military approach to Afghanistan,” he added.
Responding to a question of American officials’ accusations of Pakistan harboring leaders of the Taliban, the premier remarked “I have never understood these accusations. Pakistan had nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. No Pakistani was involved. And yet Pakistan was asked to participate in the U.S. war.”
Recalling the end of Jihad against Soviet in 1989, he said, Pakistan was left with militant groups and 4 million Afghan refugees.
“If we had stayed neutral after 9/11, I reckon we would have saved ourselves from the devastation that took place afterward. By becoming the front-line state for the U.S. in the war on terror, this country went through hell,” PM Khan highlighted.