Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that Islamabad will "never get involved" in other countries' wars again and will serve as an "example" for other Muslim countries and "lead" them.
Khan made the comments a day after he directed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to visit Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US as part of Islamabad's efforts to defuse the tensions in the Gulf region following the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike and Tehran attacked military bases in Iraq housing American troops.
He said that Pakistan will become a country that will "serve as an example for other Muslim countries around the world and lead them".
Geo News quoted Khan as saying that Islamabad had been committing mistakes in its foreign policy "by getting involved in others' wars".
"Pakistan will never participate in anyone's war again," he said while launching an ambitious skill development programme in Islamabad aimed at the emancipation of youth through quality professional training.
Khan has previously said that Pakistan has suffered immensely over its role as a front-line state during the 'Afghan Jihad' in the 1980s and the US-led war on terror following the 9/11 terror attacks.
He had also said that even though there were economic advantages to these conflicts, with foreign funding flowing into Pakistan, the eventual cost to the fabric of Pakistani society was not worth it.
"Pakistan will become the country that encourages peace in other countries," he said, adding that Islamabad will do its best to bring about peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia.