Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday dragged India’s name in the ongoing war in the Middle East, saying that in case the regime changes in Iran, its “joint single point agenda” along with New Delhi and Afghanistan will be “enmity towards Pakistan”. Sharing a long rant on social media platform X, Asif said that the “Zionist” agenda was to bring Israel’s influence right up to Pakistan’s border.
“Despite Iran’s readiness for agreement, a war has been imposed upon them, and its agenda, orchestrated by the Zionists, includes bringing Israel’s influence right up to Pakistan’s border,” Asif said in the post, quoted by Geo News. While Pakistan has been accusing India of using the Taliban as a proxy, a claim that New Delhi denies, Asif is now seeing an axis between his country’s three neighbours against Islamabad in the event of a regime change in Iran.
“The joint single point agenda of Afghanistan, Iran, and India will then be enmity towards Pakistan, making our borders insecure, surrounding us with enemies from all sides, and turning Pakistan into a vassal state,” he said in the post. Khawaja Asif, who is known for his anti-India rhetoric, called on all 250 million Pakistanis “to understand the conspiracy and intentions” of what he called Islamabad’s enemies.
“It is necessary for all 250 million Pakistanis, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, to understand this conspiracy and the intentions of our eternal enemies,” he added. While Khawaja Asif seems concerned with the US-Israeli war with Iran, Pakistan is also engaged in an ever-escalating conflict of its own, this time with its northern neighbour, Afghanistan.
The conflict, which is being seen as the worst between the countries in years, was sparked last week by what Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said were retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations in response to Pakistan’s targeting of militants in Afghanistan. Islamabad has launched air-to-ground missiles at Taliban military sites over the last week, and even directly targeted the Taliban government for the first time over allegations it harbours militants executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)said on Tuesday that at least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in Afghanistan in the fighting with Pakistan between February 26 and March 2.
