‘In-house cleaning’ a sign of strength, says interior minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday said the term "in-house cleaning" refers to strength. He was talking in the context of an earlier statement made by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

“People came under the impression that we are a nation believing in self-accountability,” Iqbal noted as he spoke to Daily Jang, adding that the statement restored confidence in the people, as opposed to the belief that it brought shame to the country.

Earlier this month, Asif had said the civil and military leadership are on the same page with regard to how Pakistan has to make a clean break from its past.

In an interview on Geo News' programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath earlier this month, the foreign minister admitted that Pakistan made some mistakes in the past and that it should not have participated in the proxy war in Afghanistan during former president Zia-ul-Haq's tenure or the war on terror.

Asif also remarked that countries shouldn’t put pressure on nations they share a close relationship with.

“We need to tell our friends that we have improved our house. We need to bring our house in order to prevent facing embarrassment on an international level”, he said.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seconded Asif’s comment regarding the "in-house cleaning" and agreed with the viewpoint that "our own house needs to be cleaned first".

However, members of the opposition — as well as former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan — came down hard on Asif for his 'anti-Pakistan' comments.