Imran Khan pushed his country into deep mess

Neither Imran Khan has done any favour to himself nor Donald Trump to the US interests in their over-enthusiasm and logrolling at their recent meet.

Several sections in Pakistan and the US, particularly the diplomatic ones, are a worried lot now. Imran Khan's visit to the US was not about Kashmir anyway, which has become a major news for our media here. It was about Afghanistan.

The US acknowledges Pakistan through its Afghan prism. Every deal that Pakistan strikes with the US and every agreement it seeks to develop is from the Afghanistan viewpoint.

Trump was perhaps right when he stated that Pakistan could help the US exit Afghanistan. Pakistan's role in Afghanistan is vital, but not in the sense as hailed by the US or claimed by Pakistan. Afghanistan would have been peaceful and returned to democracy long, long ago had it not been for Pakistan's interference.

The way Pakistan arms and trains the dreaded terror groups of Afghanistan including the Haqqani network is well known to the world.

It is not that the US does not know it. Yet, for its own sake, it ignores the dirty games played by Pakistan in Afghanistan. Coming as it did, against this backdrop, Donald Trump's statement on Afghanistan has shocked the world and drawn fierce criticism.

Trump told Khan that he could easily win the Afghan conflict but did not 'want to kill 10 million people' while adding that the US could wipe Afghanistan "off the face of the earth". No country has used such a language against its enemies even in the recent times. And then Afghanistan is not an enemy of the US.

It is the US which is the enemy of Afghanistan if any. Trump's comments betray his arrogance and insensitivity. Does this guy listen to anyone in his office? After all, the US wants to make a peaceful exit and Trump's remarks come at a time when the US peace envoy is headed to Kabul for talks with the Afghan Taliban. Similar is his comment on Kashmir.

This off-the-cuff remark comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to leave for the US in September for a series of meetings with the US President over irritants in the trade front. How the Trump administration, which is on a damage-control mode, handle the situation now is to be seen.

On his part, a boastful Imran Khan too has landed his country in a deep mess vis a vis the FATF conditions. Pakistan's status is up for a review shortly and Imran Khan tells the world that he still has about 40,000 terrorists roaming freely in his country. In his bid to bluff, Khan came out with a startling admission even by the Pakistani standards.

India is now preparing to approach the UN body with this statement to prove its point that Pakistan still houses terror groups of all denominations.

The FATF has passed strictures in April this year against Pakistan which forced Pakistan to announce a sham of a crackdown. Pakistan army spokesperson had claimed then that there were no terrorist organisations in the country. Contrary to it, Khan's statement stands proof of its inaction.