On the recordJuly 23, 2019
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, came to Washington this weekend. As chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, it is appropriate that I comment upon what has occurred so far in the bilateral discussions, and I look forward to meeting the Prime Minister later today. What is unfortunate is the approach taken by the Trump administration. First, as to Afghanistan, the hearts and minds of the Afghan people are critical to our success in what has been our longest war. Tens of thousands of Americans have worked to get the hearts and minds of the Afghan people on our side, building schools and hospitals, under very dangerous conditions. Now, the President takes this high-profile opportunity as an opportunity to say that he might kill 10 million Afghans, or was thinking about it, or raises the possibility that we would use nuclear weapons to destroy Afghanistan. This does untold harm to our efforts in Afghanistan to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. What the President should have done is talk about the Durand Line and how Afghanistan should accept this border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a border that Afghanistan disputes but that the whole world accepts. As to Kashmir, it is not surprising that the Prime Minister of Pakistan wants America to arbitrate or mediate. That has been the position of Pakistan for decades.…
