ISLAMABAD: National Security Adviser retired Lt Gen Nasser Janjua on Monday said the United States was heaping blame on Pakistan because of its failure in Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, the United States has not been able to win the war in Afghanistan and hence the blame game,” he said while addressing a seminar organised by the Centre for Global and Strategic Studies.

Islamabad’s tone is apparently hardening as the differences with the US over alleged terrorist sanctuaries remain unresolved despite a series of high-level interactions.

While supporting cooperation with Pakistan in areas where the two countries have convergences, a Pentagon report on Afghanistan submitted to Congress has suggested “unilateral actions” in areas of divergences.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said in Washington last week that if Pakistani leaders did not end support for terrorist sanctuaries on their soil, they were “going to lose control of their own country”.

Mr Janjua regretted that Pakistan was being accused of playing “double game” and providing “safe havens to Taliban and Haqqani network” while disregarding its contribution.

Noting Pakistan’s predicament, he said that on the one hand the US accused Pakistan of siding with the Taliban and Haqqani network and, on the other, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan attacked the country for helping “the infidels”.

Mr Janjua gave his own explanation of the reasons behind terrorism in Pakistan and said the country suffered terrorist attacks for siding with the US, the West and their allies. He said 60,000 Pakistanis had lost their lives in terrorist attacks, adding that US support for Indian hegemonic designs was stressing stability in South Asia.

“The US is exporting war and perpetual instability to South Asia,” he said, adding that special efforts were needed to maintain balance in the region that was just a “mistake away” from a major catastrophe.

APP adds: Mr Janjua said Pakistan had been successful in defeating the nefarious designs of the enemy and proof of that was that militants laid down their arms in sensitive parts of the country in droves.

He said Pakistan had encountered the menace of terrorism only after it started supporting the operations of US-led forces in Afghanistan. “Pakistan has been battling with security problems for the past many years. Peace in Afghanistan remains our top priority,” he added.

Mr Janjua also talked about Pakistan’s relationship with India and how it has influenced foreign policies of other nations in the subcontinent. “India has been stockpiling a range of dangerous weapons, as it threatens Pakistan continuously of conventional warfare.”

He said Pakistan was in need of formulating a comprehensive response viz-a-viz security of the state, adding that the current dimension of security milieus across the globe had witnessed a paradigm shift where threat to cyberspace had taken centre stage.

He said Pakistan was blamed for instigating instability in Afghanistan, but it was pertinent to mention that Islamabad had neither supported nor provided safe havens to terrorist organisations.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2017