Is it reset of ties with US, asks Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan Saturday called US President Joe Biden’s statement unwarranted and said Pakistan had the most secure nuclear command and control system.

Imran took to his Twitter account to react to the US president’s statement and wrote, “I have two questions on this: 1, on what information has POTUS reached this unwarranted conclusion on our nuclear capability when having been Prime Minister I know we have one of the most secure command and control systems. 2. Unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression especially post-nuclearisation”.

“Equally important, this Biden statement shows total failure of the imported government’s foreign policy and its claims of a reset of relations with the US? Is this the reset? This government has broken all records for incompetence,” he alleged. Meanwhile, Imran Khan, in an interview to a private TV channel said that his party’s upcoming long march towards Islamabad would take place in October; however, he did not reveal the exact date.

Imran said that he had completed the planning for the next long march but he would not reveal the plan to anyone.

“Long march will be held in October,” Khan said, adding that he could take back his long march if the incumbent government announces fresh elections.He predicted that the march to Islamabad would be the “biggest” in Pakistan’s history and a “sea of people” would flood the city.

Imran said he had the best relationship with the establishment because both had same interests. There was no problem in our foreign policy in the beginning. “There was only one issue and that was accountability. I asked them that they [former rulers] had been looting the country for the last 30 years. All cases were ripe against them but NAB wasn’t in our control. It was in someone else’s control,” he said.

Imran said that rule of law was weak. “I told them (establishment) to arrest them (the former rulers) but they told us to focus on economy.”

In response to Imran Khan’s statement about the US President’s allegations, Maryam tweeted, “Do you have a speck of shame? Instead of putting your petty politics aside and responding like a Pakistani you are blaming Pakistan. You (Imran Khan) come out blatantly attacking your own country? “(Oh My) God! (I’ve) Never seen a person as small-minded & bigoted as you [are]. Shame!,” she added.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders in a joint statement blasted the US President for his irresponsible statement against Pakistan’s nuclear programme and demanded that he should apologise to the Pakistani nation for his nasty remarks just because “his regime change conspiracy” was faltering.

PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar said: “A nuclear country without cohesion? Is Biden referring to the US?” He said that after all his party was going after Donald Trump for trying to subvert the Constitution and steal the last presidential election! He gave a piece of advice that the countries in glass houses should think before throwing stones at others. PTI Senior Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari said, “Biden’s tirade against Pakistan is not unexpected, as the US has been doing this regularly; however, what is shameful is silence from our imported government.” She said that although given the US “regime change conspiracy”, the shameful silence may also not be surprising! “You need to apologise to the Pakistani nation for your nasty remarks just because your regime change conspiracy is faltering,” Mazari told Biden in a statement.

“A nuclear US is a threat to the world because you have no control over your nukes. A B52 bomber takes off with six live nukes in 2007 and no one knows for hours. An irresponsible superpower with nukes and your proclivity to interfere globally with regime change agendas alongside militarising the oceans: custodial torture in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram. Even your own people are not safe from gunmen going on killing sprees. Have some shame Biden. Our nuclear weapons command and control has an unblemished safety record unlike the US but the US can never accept a Muslim nuclear state. So Biden you said something about national cohesion? Seriously, the US needs to do some serious introspection before targeting other countries. An unstable nuclear super power with no national cohesion is a grave threat to the rest of the world,” she added.

She left questions for the “imported government” that was the new tirade against Pakistan by Biden the end goal of what the “resetting of ties with the US” was all about? “This is the net result of the reset of ties with the US, after the imported government brought in through the US regime change conspiracy?”

Criticising Maryam Nawaz, she said, “you ignorant woman instead of telling off Biden you decided to attack Imran Khan because you have been part of the US regime change conspiracy. Such loyalty to the US.

“If you can grasp anything beyond plundering Pakistan, criticising failure of our imported government’s foreign policy is not an attack on Pakistan,” she added.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said the US President wanted to divert the attention from his declining credibility among Americans. “Joe Biden should withdraw his irresponsible statements about Pakistan forthwith. Our present leadership can be weak but the people of Pakistan are not weak,” he added.

Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar said the US President’s irresponsible statement aimed to divert the public attention from his declining popularity. “The incumbent government in Pakistan may be your slave but the people of Pakistan are not your slaves,” he added.