By Lalit K JhaWashington, Dec 15 (PTI) The Pakistani Army is thearsonist in Afghanistan which also wants to be part of thefire brigade, a former top Pakistani diplomat has said.
The remarks by Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's formerAmbassador to the US, came as several American expertshighlighted the role of the Army in the country's decision.
Haqqani said Pakistan was an ally of convenience duringthe Cold War, but Pakistan's main objective to compete withIndia has never been an American objective.
"Therefore, American and Pakistani interests in theregion don't really coincide," Haqqani said.
"Another objective gets undermined as well, and that isthat America, at some point, wants to leave that region, andit wants to hand over authority to a strong and stableAfghanistan government, which is not constantly confronted bythe Taliban on a daily basis," he told Cipher Brief.
"The problem is that the Pakistani military also sustainsthe very Taliban who it tells the Americans it will helpfight. They are the arsonist and also want to be part of thefire brigade. That is the real complication," he said.
According to Bill Milam, former US Ambassador toPakistan, for almost the entire period of PakistanÂ’sindependence, the Army has been a significant factor in itspolitical life.
"In recent years, the Pakistani military has used avariety of methods to squeeze the operating space of thecivilian governments," said Dan Markey from the Johns HopkinsUniversity. PTI LKJNSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.