LAHORE - Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was not meant to reach the warm waters of Indian Ocean as is widely believed, ex-Foreign Minister Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali said yesterday.
“It was actually an attempt to pre-empt a possible US intervention in some of the Central Asian States (CARs) and Afghanistan,” he told the audience at the launch of Urdu version of a book written by an ex-Russian general on the Afghan war and its aftermath.
To substantiate his point, Sardar Assef said that there was unrest in CARs and the neighboring Afghanistan at that time, and the Russians feared an intervention from the West led by the US. It was in this background that Soviet Union decided to take a lead to avert the possible scenario, he added.
Assef did not agree with the popular notion that Russia invaded Afghanistan to have access to the warm waters of Indian Ocean, and termed it a perception spread by the CIA to enlist the support of Pakistan.
He said he had warned way back in 1985 that Pakistan should stay away from the Afghan conflict, a stance which invited harsh criticism from the religious extremists who also declared him a non-believer.
He said he had also taken the stance that “We are planting time bombs that would destroy our future generations”. “The events taking place after the Afghan conflict have proved that I was right”.
The book, titled, “My Last War: Afghanistan after the Russian withdrawal” written by General Makhmut Akhmetovich Gareyev, has been translated into Urdu by Dr Najmul Sahar Butt with a new title: “Meri Akhaari Jang: Afghanistan, Soviet Affuaaj kay Inkhala kay Baad”.
Russian Ambassador in Pakistan, Alexey Y Dedov was the chief guest on the occasion. He appreciated the effort by Dr Najam, saying no body from Russia persuaded him to translate the book. It was his own initiative, he said. “We should read the history taking into account all the points of view”, observed Mr Dedov who did not chose to comment on the view held by ex-Pakistan foreign minister on the motives of his country’s invasion in Afghanistan.
In his book, Gareyev agrees in principle that foreign powers should avoid intervening in the internal conflicts of countries and this should be a standard practice in international affairs. Nevertheless, he takes the stance that Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had become inevitable owing to some political developments on its southern border.
The book also gives a candid account of the events since the time he arrived in Kabul in 1989 as an adviser to President Mohammad Najibullah.
He served in that capacity till 1991.
In his view, the Russian leadership did not do enough to support President Najibullah after the withdrawal of forces in a situation when the west and its allies continued to arm the opposition. The resultant situation, he thinks, created an imbalance of power.
Sohail Goendi and Farooq Tariq were of the view that Pakistani generals should also speak the truth. They deplored that Pakistanis were being taught a distorted history which eventually took them to the past only. Farooq questioned the timings of the Russian invasion, saying that Afghanistan was not prepared for a socialist revolution at that time. He also said that there was no military solution to the militancy and fundamentalism. A liberal state is the solution to these evils, he averred.
Asghar Nadeen Syed said that translation of books from one language to another was important because this exercise would be helpful in connecting the people and the nations. He stressed that generals should speak the truth at the right time. He said that Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a mistake and Russia achieved nothing out of it.