Pakistan's wounds are self-inflicted, says Imran Khan

Tariq Butt / IANS

During the 20 years of the war on terror, all the wounds Pakistan suffered were self-inflicted, according to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Samaa TV reported.

At a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, he said that every nation has its fair share of highs and lows, so did Pakistan. "When you move away from your principles and make materialistic decisions it will have consequences."

He recalled that the previous government chose dollars over human life. "And we can't hold anyone else responsible for what they did."

The Pakistan Premier reassured that the country would soon come out of its problems. "We just have to fix the system, bring a rule of law and meritocracy. We need to end this elite capture."

"But this won't happen overnight. We need to worth together on this," the PM highlighted, adding that Pakistan will soon come out of its current account problem and achieve growth that was last seen in the 1970s, the report said.

But throughout these years, Pakistan's reputation, internationally, has gotten better despite facing challenges as severe as the coronavirus pandemic.

"We shouldn't be under the impression that we're out of the woods, but, undoubtedly, the image of the country has improved. And this was seen in the OIC conference."

The Prime Minister remarked that Pakistan's stance was not just accepted by the world but the country's objectives for Afghanistan were adopted by European nations and even the World Health Organisation.

"We need to understand this. Whether you like the Taliban government or not, you have to think about the 40 million people who live in the country. Their lives are at stake."

This is a humanitarian crisis and it's manmade, he pointed out. "We can avert it by defreezing Afghanistan's assets and improving liquidity."