PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan has called his country has done one of the biggestblunders by joining the US in its war on terrorism in the aftermath of the 9/11attacks.
In an eventat the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank in New York, the PakistanPM said, "Pakistan by joining the US after 9/11 committed one of the biggestblunders. 70,000 Pakistanis died in this. Some economists say we had 150billion, some say 200 billion loss to the economy. On top of it, we were blamedfor the US not winning in Afghanistan."
The PM saidthat the very groups that were trained to fight Soviet resistance inAfghanistan in the 1980s were deemed as terrorists by the US. He further saidthat the insurgent groups were indoctrinated that fighting foreign occupationis Jihad. But now when the US arrived in Afghanistan, it was supposed to beterrorism.
Khan alsoacknowledged that his country's army and spy agency Inter Services Intelligence(ISI) trained al Qaeda and other militant groups to fight in Afghanistan andtherefore, there were always links with them because they had trained them.
While interactingwith reporters along with US President Donald Trump, Pakistan PM also remarkedabout the Kashmir issue before their meeting on the side lines of the UNGeneral Assembly session. He said that it's a humanitarian issue. "If you wereto meet Modi now, I would have asked to at least lift the siege," said Khan.
He furthersaid, "I honestly feel that this crisis would get worse."
