Speaking at Pakistan’s National Assembly on Monday, Asif said that Islamabad’s motive to be a part of the wars was driven by politics and not religion
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has made a rare admission about Islamabad’s involvement in the Afghanistan wars, revealing the real intention behind the move.
Speaking at Pakistan’s National Assembly on Monday, Asif said that Islamabad’s motive to be a part of the wars was driven by politics and not religion. He said that Pakistan’s participation in the conflict, which began during the Cold War and went on till the September 11, 2001 attacks, was a strategic choice made to garner international support, especially from the US.
“We did not enter these wars to defend Islam or for jihad. We entered them for political legitimacy and to secure the support of a superpower,” Asif told lawmakers.
Asif said Pakistan’s approach to Afghanistan since independence has been driven by changing geopolitical interests, arguing that the so-called jihad during the Soviet-Afghan war was essentially a proxy war backed by global powers.
He said, “That was not jihad. It was the war of a superpower. And for that war, we changed our education system. Even today, that curriculum has not been fully corrected.”
The defence minister acknowledged Pakistan’s failure to learn from the then Soviet Union’s withdrawal and instead aligned with the US post 9/11 and remained involved the Afghanistan war for nearly two decades.
“For not one decade, but two decades, we rented ourselves out. The only objective was to gain American support,” he said.
Asif added that Afghans were not involved in the Twin Tower attacks, that Afghanistan as a country was not responsible, yet Pakistan became deeply involved in the subsequent war.
He said Pakistan’s leadership had consistently avoided admitting past mistakes. “Until we admit our mistakes, nothing will improve,” Asif said, adding that he had personally apologised for the decisions made by previous generations.
Asif’s comments represent one of the clearest public admissions by a sitting Pakistani defence minister about the strategic motives behind Islamabad’s role in Afghanistan’s conflicts, an issue widely debated domestically but seldom addressed so candidly by senior leaders.
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