US allegations affecting Pakistan's fight against terrorism: Zardari

US allegations affecting Pakistan's fight against terrorism: Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari says the recent United States allegations against Pakistan have affected the country’s fight against terrorism and that it is the

militants who have benefited from the verbal assaults.

In his recent op-ed ‘Talk to, not at, Pakistan’ published in The Washington Post, the president said that the nation considers the war against terrorism as

its own war and looks for support that will help the country in fighting extremism, rather than being confronted.

“When Pakistan seeks support, we look for trade that will make us sustainable, not aid that will bind us in transactional ties. When we commit to a

partnership against terrorism, we do it in the hope that our joint goals will be addressed. When we add our shoulder to the battle, we look for outcomes

that leave us stronger,” wrote Zardari.

Zardari said that at a time when Pakistan is facing floods which has left millions of people homeless, the country’s friend, the United States, is also

battering the nation and Pakistan is being “spoken to instead of being heard.”

He also said that the US is alleging Pakistan of supporting the militant mind-set to whom the country has lost “30,000 innocent civilians and 5,000 military

and police officers.”

On September 22, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen bluntly said he believes the Haqqani network acts as a “veritable arm of

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency”. He went on to say that the Pakistani government, army and intelligence agency jeopardize the Pak-US

partnership in the war on terror by “choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy”.

Pakistan has condemned these allegations, maintaining that it is committed to fighting the war on terror as it has been the greatest victim of militancy.