ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir said on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric against Pakistan was distracting efforts for Afghan peace and hinted that Islamabad would leverage its logistics support for the coalition forces in Afghanistan at an appropriate time.

The defence minister, while speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, deliberated on Pakistan’s security landscape touching issues with neighbours India and Afghanistan, growing defence cooperation with Russia and China, improvement of ties with Iran, the fraying relationship with the US, and civil-military relations at home. He, however, did not speak about the nuclear programme and its doctrinal developments.

It was probably the first appearance of the defence minister on the think-tank circuit since he assumed office in August. In view of the widening rift with the US, his presentation was overshadowed by discussion on some recent developments.

Responding to questions about Pakistan’s land route and airspace being used by the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan enjoyed several leverages, including the Ground Lines of Communication and Air Lines of Communication, and the country would use them at an appropriate time.

Says Pakistan will leverage its logistics support for coalition in Afghanistan at appropriate time

It has been long speculated that Pakistan in response to the US coercive actions could squelch coalition forces’ supply lines in retaliation.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis said last Friday that they had taken into consideration all possibilities before suspending Pakistan’s security assistance and he was not concerned about the supply lines being blocked.

The understanding in Islamabad is that Washington would incrementally ramp up pressure and hence the officials here have been careful in playing their cards.

Underscoring the importance of logistics, Mr Dastagir said they trumped strategy. But at the same time, he noted that “impulses appear to be running ahead of policy”.

Responding to Mr Trump’s repeated boasts of giving Pakistan ‘billions and billions’ in dollars, the defence minister said these assertions were a “callously transactional, counter-productive and offensive”.

“Shall we put a price-tag on the use of ground lines of communication, air lines of communication which average 300 sorties daily, use of ports and air-bases, the matchless intelligence cooperation that decimated Al Qaeda, the three million Afghan refugees we continue to host, and thousands of Pakistani civilians and armed forces personnel who lost and continue to lose their lives at the hands of those who operate from across the border in Afghanistan…”

He observed that “mutual recrimination distracts us from prize on which we should direct our eyes: a sustainable peace in a democratic Afghanistan”.

He regretted that while the US administration found it convenient to blame Pakistan, it did not pursue reconciliation in Afghanistan seriously or help fence the Pak-Afghan border and had been ignoring the fact that half of Afghanistan was now a safe haven with 43 per cent of the country’s territory outside Kabul’s control.

In an interesting explanation about the growing divergences in ties, Mr Dastagir said India, the often cited reason, was not the only factor; rather ‘American denial syndrome’ was more topical. He said Americans were in denial about the causes of not having been able to win in Afghanistan.

“Now all veils are off and it is time for a courteous yet ruthlessly candid dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, with everything on the table,” he maintained.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2018