Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday regretted his country's decision to join America's 20-year-long 'war on terror' in Afghanistan. Calling it a "self-inflicted wound", the Pakistan PM said it was a decision made for money and not in the interest of the public.
Imran Khan, who had long been critical of Pakistan's participation in the about two-decades-long war, claimed that he was close to the decision-makers in 2001 when the then military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, decided to become part of the 'war on terror'.
"And so, I am well aware of what considerations went behind the decision. Unfortunately, the people of Pakistan were not a consideration," Mr Khan said while addressing officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
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"The considerations, instead, were the same as in the 1980s, when we participated in the Afghan jihad," he said, referring to the Soviet-Afghan war, which was then dubbed as the "holy war".
"We ourselves are responsible... as we let [others] use us, sacrificed the reputation of our country for aid and made a foreign policy that went against the public interest [and was devised] for money."
Khan in the past had often cited that Pakistan suffered over 80,000 deaths and economic losses of over $100 billion as a result of the 20 years of war.