Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill has claimed PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is looking to strike a deal with the United States. Gill, addressing a press conference in Karachi, claimed Bilawal is “going to take his CV (curriculum vitae) to Washington in a bid to get a job”.
Bilawal’s upcoming trip to US eliciting criticism from pol opponents, who claim it’s a trip to lobby for power. US officials themselves claim that US is no longer involved in deciding power game in Pak. But many here continue to believe US support is essential for high office.
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“After reaching America, Bilawal will urge [the US government] to help him come into power, saying he is ready to do whatever they ask of him.”
Gill said that the PTI-led government “will never allow Bilawal to succeed” in his plans. “We will not let such a deal be struck,” the premier’s aide said.
He said claimed that during former president (retired) Gen Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, 13 drone attacks were carried out in Pakistan, while during PPP’s regime, the country witnessed a whopping 340 attacks.
The premier’s aide further alleged that former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helped Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto strike a deal to allow drone attacks on Pakistan.
“These people (PPP) shift the blame on Musharraf for Pakistan having provided military bases to America.
“[Whereas] it is you (PPP) who put your interests above national interests,” Gill said.
Gill’s statement comes two days after Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had said Pakistan would not give airbases to the US if the government has decided against it.
The army chief was responding to questions posed by journalists after he had attended a military and intelligence briefing to parliamentarians on national security and the Afghanistan situation.
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“You should have put this question to the government. Why have you asked this from me?” Gen Bajwa said when first questioned on the military’s position on the matter.
Pakistan has publicly refused to give military bases to the US for operations inside Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-torn country.
Washington had requested Islamabad’s help to keep a check on the situation in Afghanistan and stop it from falling into the hands of terrorists.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his address on the floor of the National Assembly three days earlier, had said Pakistan could be a partner in peace with the US but not in conflict.
He had underlined that Pakistan became a target for militants when it joined the so-called US-led war against terror and sent its army into the tribal regions.