Kabul: Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent statement that his country acted as a “hired force” in Afghanistan is one of the most direct admission of a policy failure. His remarks expose Pakistan’s internal reckoning with its Afghan policy and indicate a renewed effort to shift responsibility for Islamabad’s security crisis onto Kabul, a report mentioned.
In his recent remarks in Pakistan’s National Assembly after the Islamabad suicide attack, Asif condemned terrorism and spoke about Pakistan’s decades-long role as a “hired force” in Afghanistan. His remarks along with new accusations from Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and an analysis shared on social media demonstrate that Pakistan is struggling to reconcile its past interventions with its present insecurity, Afghan Diaspora Network reported citing Tolo News.
Asif said that Pakistan was involved in conflict in Afghanistan for 22 to 23 years to serve Western interests and not for religious reasons. He contended that Pakistan’s decision to join the Afghan conflicts was driven for gaining support of the US and not ideological conviction.
“For decades, we were involved in Afghanistan as a hired force,” he said while adding that Pakistan has not yet fully accepted its mistake and is now repeating it. Asif’s admission challenges the narrative that Pakistan claimed for years that its involvement in Afghanistan was a religious duty and defence of the Muslim world.
Former Afghan diplomat Aziz Mareq stated that Asif’s remarks are less about accountability and more about relieving Pakistani officials of responsibility, Afghan Diaspora Network reported, citing Tolo News. He stated that Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan were driven by economic benefit.
Asif’s remarks showcased Pakistan’s frustration with the Taliban. He said Afghanistan, which once listened to Pakistan’s concerns, is now “reluctant” to provide assurances on counter-terrorism. His remarks showcased deteriorating ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Earlier, Pakistan hoped to secure its western flank by Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
In a report in Afghan Diaspora Network, Kazim Jafari, a political science student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, wrote, “Khawaja Asif’s admission that Pakistan acted as a ‘hired force’ in Afghanistan is one of the most direct acknowledgments of policy failure ever made by a Pakistani minister. Yet his speech also revealed the contradictions at the heart of Pakistan’s Afghan strategy: a willingness to admit past mistakes, paired with a continued reliance on externalising blame.
“For Afghanistan, these remarks are both revealing and troubling. They expose Pakistan’s internal reckoning with its Afghan policy, but also signal a renewed effort to shift responsibility for Pakistan’s security crisis onto Kabul. The competing narratives – Pakistan’s claims of Afghan-based militants and Afghan analysts’ reminders of Pakistan’s own militant networks — reflect a region still trapped in cycles of accusation and denial,” he further stated.
(IANS)
