Pakistan envoy writes to US Congressman; attempts to deny Islamabad link in Taliban terror

Pakistan’s ambassador in the US, Asad Majeed Khan, called out US Congressman Michael G Waltz for urging president Joe Biden to take action against Pakistan by cutting off Washington’s aid to Islamabad. The Pakistan envoy said that the US should stop placing the blame on Islamabad for the fall of Afghanistan while also noting that the crisis in the South Asian country is due to “kleptocratic leadership.”

Waltz, in his letter to Biden, not only called for action against Pakistan for the country’s assistance to the terrorists but also claimed that the Taliban captured Kabul with Islamabad’s support. Similar remarks have been echoed by several former Afghan officials including the ex-Vice President. However, in his response to US Congressman’s letter, Khan said that the United States had “mischaracterised” Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan. In the letter that he shared on Twitter on September 1, Khan raised the issues such as “low morale” and “ghost soldiers” in the Afghan army.

“The contention that Pakistan’s ‘military strategy’ was somehow the decisive factor in the defeat of the 300,000-strong Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) does not square with the US government’s own assessments,” Khan wrote. 

“The issues of low morale, desertions and ghost soldiers had long plagued the ANDSF...Demoralised soldiers do not fight for a corrupt, kleptocratic leadership that will bolt at the first hint of trouble,” he also mentioned.

Pakistan trying to create ‘common understanding’

Earlier, in an interview with BBC on Monday night, Khan also argued that Pakistan was still trying to help in creating a common understanding among all the factions in war-ravaged Afghanistan. The Taliban marched into the Afghan capital of Kabul on August 15 and triggered the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government, who submitted his resignation and fled the nation.

Khan told the British broadcaster,

“Our position all along has been that we should encourage and support all Afghan parties to come to a common understanding...because getting to a common understanding and their ability to form an inclusive government would avoid the exodus of Afghan refugees.”

“At the same time, Pakistan has been providing every support that it could to facilitate the evacuation of all those wanting to leave Afghanistan,” he said.

IMAGE: AP/Twitter