Former Pakistan ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani rejected allegation of Sartaj Aziz having anti lobby against Pakistan’s interests in US.
Earlier, Aziz, while addressing in the National Assembly alleged that former Pakistani ambassador to the US has been ‘lobbying against his own country’ and ‘creating hurdles for the government’.
Haqqani rejecting Aziz’s allegations said that he knew Aziz was talking about him because another minister had attacked him by name with similar claims.
Government officials should take “responsibility for failed policies” instead of “looking for scapegoats to divert attention from criticism at home” he said.
“A former Pakistani ambassador is working against his own country in the US,” Aziz had stated during the NA session, adding that Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in the US is facing challenges due to the former ambassador’s campaign.
“I am now a scholar in the US, not a lobbyist,” Haqqani’s statement said.
He added that if his opinions as a scholar carry so much weight that US policy is being affected by them, then the Pakistan Foreign Ministry should try to influence his opinions rather than treating him like a pariah and making false allegations against him in the Pakistani media.
“Pakistan’s difficulties in the US were the result of years of supporting ‘jihadis’ and making excuses that are having less and less effect on Americans. Moreover, Pakistan’s dependence on US aid made it susceptible to changes in the US national mood and attitude,” elaborated Haqqani in the statement released.
“I did not make the AQ Khan network, support the Taliban as they killed US soldiers in Afghanistan or allow UN designated terrorist groups to function openly so there is no point in blaming me for these policy failures. Neither I nor any other former ambassador was responsible for the OBL fiasco,” said Haqqani, elaborating on the reasons for the trust deficit witnessed in Pak-US relations.
“This person is trying to tackle all our diplomatic efforts in boosting the bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States,” Aziz had said earlier today.
