Pakistan Army has said it will not send troops for any mission outside the region, amidst reports of pressure by the US to become part of a grand military alliance to crush Islamic State (ISIS) in the
Pakistan Army has said it will not send troops for any mission outside the region, amidst reports of pressure by the US to become part of a grand military alliance to crush Islamic State (ISIS) in the Middle East.
“We already have about 182,000 troops deployed along the Afghan border. We are not looking for any involvement outside our region,” Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said.
The US is working to cobble up an alliance against the ISIS (known as ‘Daesh’ in Arabic acronym) that has seized hundreds of square miles in Iraq and Syria.
“Daesh is a global threat, with its centre in the Middle East. There is need for a global response to it,” Gen. Bajwa was quoted as saying by Dawn.
“Luckily, Daesh sympathisers came to Pakistan when people were fed up with extremists. So this phenomenon was totally rejected in Pakistan,” he added.
Earlier this year, Pakistan refused to provide troops to a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia to wage a war in Yemen.
Gen. Bajwa was part of a delegation led by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif who visited the US from November 15 to 20.
Gen. Sharif did not discuss with the US leadership the dossiers about alleged Indian interference in his country during his recent visit to Washington, a media report said Monday.
“It is an issue that is tackled by the embassy at appropriate levels and was not raised in the meetings (with US leaders),” Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said.
Pakistan last month presented three dossiers to India, which according to previous official statements, contained proofs about alleged Indian involvement in Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Karachi.
Meanwhile, Pakistan emphasised that a close and enduring partnership between Pakistan and the US was a strategic imperative, especially as the two countries had converging views on a wide range of regional and international issues.
