The clip of Khawaja Asif responding to Sky News has gone viral
Pakistanโs defence minister Khawaja Asif seemed to acknowledge that the nation had been aiding and abetting terrorists for the โlast three decades,โ but he placed the blame on the West and the United States.
Journalist Yalda Hakim asked, โBut you do admit, you do admit, sir, that Pakistan has had a long history of backing and supporting and training and funding these terrorist organizations?
Khawaja Asif responded, โWe have been doing this dirty work for the US and the West, including Britain, for three decades,โ in response to journalist Yalda Hakimโs question concerning Pakistanโs lengthy history of โsupportingโ terrorist organizations.
He quickly noted, though, that it was a โmistakeโ and that Pakistan suffered as a result. The minister stated, โPakistan would have an unimpeachable track record if we had not joined the war against the Soviet Union and later, following the 9/11 attacks.โ
Earlier, Asif also spoke about the ongoing tussle between India and Pakistan. He said, โWe will measure our response to whatever is initiated by India. It would be a measured responseโฆ If there is an all-out attack or something like that, then obviously there will be an all-out war.โ
โIf things get wrong, there could be a tragic outcome of this confrontation,โ Sky News quoted Asif as saying.
When asked whether the world should be worried, the minister said, โYes, I think so. The clash between two nuclear powers is always worrisomeโฆโ
โThe reaction which came from Delhi was not really surprising for us. We could make out that this whole thing was staged to create some sort of a crisis in the region, particularly for us,โ the Pakistan defence minister said.
Speaking in context about what he meant by โstagedโ, he said, โI personally and our government alsoโฆ in the last two daysโฆ have condemned it categorically without any reservation that terrorism in all its forms is something that should be condemned as strongly as possible.โ
This was after a horrible attack in the Baisaran valley, on innocent tourists, which led to many
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