Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the US of “pushing Pakistan away” and said he would never want to have a relation with Washington where his country is treated like a “hired gun”. “I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given money to fight someone else’s war,” Khan said in an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, referring to the 1980s war against the Soviet Union and the ongoing war on terror. “We should never put ourselves in this position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. We would like a proper relationship with the US,” he said.
He said Pakistan was not “hedging” towards China, rather it was Washington’s attitude which had brought a change in the bilateral relationship. “The US has basically pushed Pakistan away.” Asked why he “harboured anti-US sentiments”, Khan said disagreeing with Washington’s policies did not make him “anti-American”. “This is a very imperialistic approach. You are either with me or against me.”
Khan condemned the 2011 US operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, saying that it was “humiliating” that Washington did not trust Pakistan to kill the terrorist. “We did not know whether we were a friend or a foe.” Referring to US President Donald Trump’s South Asia policy, Khan said he was committed to having dialogue to achieve peace in war-torn Afghanistan. (IANS)