New Delhi: After Islamabad’s retaliatory strikes against Tehran Thursday, Pakistanis have become foreign policy experts, floating conspiracy theories to try to make sense of the situation. From calling it a ‘PR goldmine’ for the Pakistan Army to accusing the US and Israel of ordering the counterattack, to claiming that such attacks would have never taken place under former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistanis have let their imagination loose.
In conversation with journalist Ameer Abbas on GTV News, Shamshad Ahmad Khan, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, accused the US and Israel of pushing the Pakistani Army to launch attacks against Iran.
Taking orders from the West
The veteran diplomat observed that Pakistan has always had open conversations with Israel and if he were in office, he would have used diplomatic tools to discuss the situation with his Iranian counterparts rather than launch strikes. He added that Pakistan should not tolerate such orders from the West.
A user on X (formerly Twitter) advised that the two countries should have used dialogue and diplomacy. “Iran must realise that this is a trap and must not get into it. Iran would have played well by through proper communication,” they said.
Another X user called out the absurdity behind Tehran and Islamabad’s chest-thumping behaviour after the strikes. “This Iran-Pakistan standoff is the funniest I’ve seen in recent times. Both just killed each other’s terrorists and flexing like they’ve conquered Russia in winters.”
Pakistani-British political commentator Moeed Pirzada explained that Islamabad’s strikes gave a ‘Moment of Victory’ for the Army Chief and a ‘PR goldmine’ for the Pakistan Army. In a roughly 30-minute video, Pirzada observed that these strikes have given Islamabad a reason to justify the existence of the military establishment in the country.
Many have also criticised the casualties in the attacks, mainly comprising Pakistanis. While two children died and three were injured in Iran’s strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, nine have died in Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes.
“In Pakistan-Iran strikes, it was the Pakistani nationals to have been killed on both sides but it gave leverage to Israel, USA and other allies to crush Hamas And Palestinians with more fierce and brutal attacks by diverting global attention towards Pak-Iran conflict,” wrote a user on X.
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Missing Imran Khan
Pakistanis didn’t shy away from linking the military tensions to domestic politics. Many claim that under the Imran Khan administration, tensions between Islamabad and Tehran never would have reached such heights.
In 2020, Khan had said, “If there is a conflict between Iran and the Western world it will be a disaster – it will cause poverty in the world – and who knows how long it may go on. In my opinion it would be insanity”. Khan was speaking in the context of the loss Pakistan had suffered because of the Afghan war.
“From a mediator btw (between) Saudi Arabia & Iran to this. Only two years ago, Pakistan was a thriving democracy under @ImranKhanPTI until the US Biden regime decided to remove him. Pakistan should pursue this diplomatically and not become part of another US-Israel proxy war,” warned a user, giving his two pence on the emerging situation.
“If Imran Khan was still the prime minister of Pakistan, there would be no attacks from Iran, no problems with Afghanistan and most likely a better economy”, another user observed.