{"id":76397,"date":"2023-04-01T18:37:23","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T18:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pppp.org.pk\/website\/?page_id=76397"},"modified":"2023-04-01T18:37:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T18:37:23","slug":"benazir-lashes-out-at-isi-foreign-office","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pppp.org.pk\/website\/benazir-lashes-out-at-isi-foreign-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Benazir lashes out at ISI, Foreign Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Benazir lashes out at ISI, Foreign Office<\/b>
\n<\/span>May 2, 2000
\n<\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/big><\/span><\/em><\/strong>WASHINGTON: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto on Monday blamed some elements in Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence for working against the PPP governments and damaging Pakistan’s\u00a0 interests at international level. “ISI and MI in both my terms started to\u00a0 destabilise my governments when they did not like my policy,” Benazir told\u00a0 Washington-based Pakistan Voice magazine in an interview. “But they did this\u00a0 under cover and clearance from the presidents whom they managed to dupe and\u00a0 use as pawns.” Agreeing to the perception that the ISI dominates Pakistan\u00a0 foreign policy decisions, Benazir, however, did not absolve civilian leaders\u00a0 of responsibility of pursuing an isolationist policy. “ISI cannot be blamed\u00a0 for this alone. Civilian leaders should have the courage to lay down what\u00a0 needs to be done.”\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/p>\n

She said ISI has strong views and as an institution, it should have the right\u00a0 to have its own interpretation of security. “However, it is for the\u00a0 government, after listening to the ISI and the Foreign Office to decide. As\u00a0 prime minister, I sometimes listened to the ISI and sometimes to the Foreign\u00a0 Office and sometimes worked out a consensus.”<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

She said the “rogue elements” had sympathies and their own agendas … ISI\u00a0 mostly adhered to clear order “although they may have tried to drag their\u00a0 feet about it in the hope that I would forget.” Benazir said the ISI, as well\u00a0 as the Foreign Office, were under strict orders to ensure that the Taliban\u00a0 did not unilaterally cross into Kabul.\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

“Until my brother was killed and the government lost authority, this was\u00a0 maintained. I gave ISI orders to arrest some individuals suspected of\u00a0 kidnapping Western tourists in occupied Kashmir and after much foot dragging\u00a0 this was done.<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

“Sometimes, I went along with ISI proposals although I did not agree with the\u00a0 strength of the argument. For example, I wanted to accept Soviet foreign\u00a0 minister Schevernadze’s proposal for the peaceful political solution of\u00a0 Afghanistan following the Soviet withdrawal, which was due. ISI did not\u00a0 agree, wanting to give the Mujahideen the taste of victory by marching into Kabul as conquerors.” Having studied the Vietnam war, she said, she did not buy that the Mujahideen would be able to do this. “However, I did not have the heart to stop them from trying because they were so convinced they could do it and had paid such a heavy price fighting for freedom.”\u00a0 Benazir said she found that many officers, including ambassador rank, wanted\u00a0 to keep on the good side of ISI thinking they were the permanent government\u00a0 and “the PPP a temporary guest.” She said ambassadors generally respected would report to ISI on an unofficial level and seek briefings from them. They\u00a0 would then argue the ISI line from the Foreign Office. Barring a handful of\u00a0 ISI members whose actions damaged the country’s standing and led to the\u00a0 ruination of the country by destabilising the PPP government, Benazir said\u00a0 most of its officers were pure professionals. “They worked long hours,\u00a0 neglecting their families to implement decisions. They risked their lives and\u00a0 went into war zones. Throughout they kept acts of heroism secret taking\u00a0 satisfaction in doing their duty.” Benazir said Pakistan is facing isolation\u00a0 because it is defying democratic concerns of the outside world.\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

“In the last\u00a0 decade Pakistan has veered from being a respected and valued partner in the\u00a0 international community to being a pariah. The fact is that when the PPP, and\u00a0 through it the people, were in power, Pakistan’s respect within the international community was at an all-time high.”\u00a0 Benazir said Pakistan was receiving huge assistance packets or it was receiving huge inputs of foreign investment. “The US assistance package of\u00a0 $4.6 billion sanctioned in 1989 was jeopardised due to the overthrow of the\u00a0 PPP government in 1990. In 1995 Pakistan got the Brown Amendment and a\u00a0 billion dollars in cash and supply. Pakistan’s support of the Kashmir\u00a0 movement was recognised and respected.”\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

She said the denial of a democratic political system is at the heart of\u00a0 Pakistan’s political crisis. “It has brought to power puppets of mavericks\u00a0 who fought the Afghan war. They have spawned the politics of terrorism, narcotics and lawlessness. They have used the axe of false scandals to bring\u00a0 political and economic ruin to the country.”\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

At present, she said, Pakistan’s foreign policy is an isolationist one. “We\u00a0 are defying international trends towards openness, transparency, human\u00a0 rights, women’s rights, minorities rights and as such becoming marginalised.” She said the inability of the post-PPP regimes to deal with important issues\u00a0 pertaining to conflict management, terrorism, proliferation, consensus\u00a0 building in Afghanistan has led to international frustration.<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

“Until and unless Pakistan begins addressing concerns of the outside world, its isolation will continue. There are those that believe nuclear blackmail will make us stronger and more secure. In fact, the reverse is happening and we are imploding from within after having detonated the nuclear devices.”<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

She said that there was a clear shift in the US policy towards South Asia. “Western countries which during the Cold War were suspicious of India’s friendship with the Soviet Union are now drawing closer to it. Even (the prime minister of) Pakistan’s close friend Turkey visited India and snubbed\u00a0 the regime in Pakistan. These actions flow from the isolationist policies followed by Pakistan which in the past remained a key western ally.”<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

She said this also have to do much with a changing world where markets are replacing missiles as the measure of a country’s strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

“China and Iran, two other key Pakistani allies, are also drawing closer to India.” Benazir said unfortunately there is a perception that our foreign policy is\u00a0 based on blackmail. “We keep acting like naughty boys threatening to use bombs and missiles if the rest of the world does not kow-tow tous. The rest\u00a0 of the world has decided to move on and ignore us. This can change if fair elections are held which will bring the PPP to power. The PPP is a liberal\u00a0 party and its liberalism is supported by forces of liberalism everywhere.”\u00a0 She said it is important to inculcate the spirit of tolerance, to accept a\u00a0 political party if this is what the majority of people want. The defiance\u00a0 started in 1988 when certain elements decided to prevent the PPP from gaining\u00a0 power in Punjab and subsequently destabilised the government and rigged the elections, she said.<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

She said regrettably some self-proclaimed messiahs have declared that the PPP\u00a0 is corrupt even though no such allegation has stood the test of independent\u00a0 scrutiny. “These so called messiahs therefore want desired results which can\u00a0 only deepen the crisis in the country.” She said since the ouster of PPP\u00a0 government, Pakistan’s Kashmir policy has taken a turn for worse. “Three\u00a0 crucial changes took place in the Kashmir policy. First, the leadership of\u00a0 All Parties Hurriyat Conference was effectively replaced with Harkat ul\u00a0 Mujahideen and Lashkar e Taiba. “Second, the arena of conflict was expanded beyond the disputed area. Third, non-military targets, that is civilians,\u00a0 were also included as targets. This has led to a sea shift in the perceptions\u00a0 with regard to the Kashmir dispute.” She called for putting the All Parties\u00a0 Hurriyat Conference back in the centre of the policy. The PPP leader\u00a0 reiterated her call for opening borders with India while engaging it on the\u00a0 Kashmir issue.\u00a0 “We need to engage India in a dialogue wherein, whilst we disagree on\u00a0 Kashmir, we also move in uniting Kashmiris by having safe and open borders.<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

Once talks lead to opening of the borders where people can travel freely to\u00a0 see friends and family, to worship and to trade, it will lead to the opening\u00a0 of hearts and minds and the resolution.” Benazir also lashed out at the\u00a0 “demoralised and out-of-date” Foreign Office, saying there is quite bit of\u00a0 grouping and infighting in the FO. “There are many fine officers still there but the Foreign Office needs a\u00a0 revamp. The Foreign Office resents political appointees but needs to\u00a0 understand that foreign offices lacking the continuity of the British Foreign\u00a0 System do need fresh blood and fresh ideas through fresh political inductees. “However they also resent the generals being sent in as ambassadors and\u00a0 perhaps fewer generals ought to be sent as ambassadors. The problem is that\u00a0 the generals themselves retire in the prime of their life when they still\u00a0 have much to contribute. The defence ministry needs to take a fresh look at\u00a0 this problem to find a solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

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