Pakistan's National Security Advisor spews venom on US for 'preference' to India

Advisor to Pakistan's Prime Minister on national security, Retired Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua has said unrest in South Asia is in the best interest of the United States.

File photo of US President Donald Trump.

New Delhi: In a string of verbal attacks on the United States, Pakistan's National Security Advisor Retired Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua has blamed Donald Trump administration of fostering unrest in South Asia and propping up India to keep a check on China.

Janjua said on Monday that the United States wants to prop up India to counter China's influence and that tensions in South Asia would be in their best interest. "The US wants imbalance in the region to ensure that China does not rise and that there is no resurgence of Russian powers in the region," he said, adding that the country was also against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Calling it preferential treatment, Janjua sais the United States has been calling upon New Delhi for a greater role in Afghanistan. "The US is willing to give India a bigger role in Afghanistan while blaming Pakistan for its own failure in the region," he said, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn. "India was given clear preference over Pakistan by the US even though India continuously threatens conventional war with Pakistan."

He then attacks the United States for asking Pakistan to crack down on home-grown terrorist outfits. "The US accuses Pakistan of having ties with the Haqqani network and the Taliban when, in actuality, Pakistan only started facing terrorism when it aligned its forces with the US," he said.

Janjua, who is serving as advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on national security, claimed that his country has already destroyed the menace of terrorism and that even regions like Balochistan - where locals accuse Pakistani government of violating human rights, is aligned with national interests. "Pakistan has defeated the enemy's dangerous goal by defeating terrorism. Today, Balochistan is once again ringing with slogans of jeevay jeevay Pakistan (long live Pakistan)."

In recent months, calls for both Balochistan's independence and for Pakistan to crackdown on terrorists has increased manifold despite what Janjua claims. Posters demanding Baloch independence have repeatedly sprung up across European capitals while across the Atlantic, the United States has issued a string of stern messages for Pakistan to clamp down on Haqqani Network. Recently, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson even said that he had warrned Islamand that Pakistan may lose territory if it did not fight home-grown terrorists.