Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tried to clear the air surrounding the controversy regarding his disagreement with Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa over Lt. General Faiz Hameed’s posting, media reports said.
“I never had a problem with the Army because I never intervened nor did I think I would ever bring my army chief,” Imran Khan said, Samaa TV reported.
“The only problem I had was that I knew there was a possibility of a civil war in Afghanistan last summer and I was afraid that if the US left Afghanistan, it would have repercussions for Pakistan,” the PTI chairman added.
Imran Khan said he wanted Lt. General Hameed to continue serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during what he perceived would a “difficult winter season”. “The impression, however, was created that I wanted to keep him and make him the army chief,” he said.
The PTI chief said that people who knew him since his cricketing days, knows that he would never go against merit. “So, I can never think of going against merit for (the appointment of) army chief.”
About ties with the United States, Imran Khan said that the US has now found “yes men” in Pakistan, in an apparent reference to the PML-N led coalition government,
“During my tenure, we had an independent foreign policy from day one whether someone likes it or not,” he added.
(IANS)
