Islamabad working to reconnect with US
NATION WANTS TO PLAY POSITIVE ROLE IN AFGHANISTAN, QURAISHI SAYS
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Quraishi said on Friday that Pakistan was trying to reconnect with the United States, its old ally, as Washington’s priorities had changed in the region where it had forged a strategic relationship with India,
“You can have new friends, but why lose old friends?” he posed the question at a large gathering of American academics, analysts, international affairs students and journalists at the Asia Society in New York.
The foreign minister said Pakistan wanted peace in the region, but on the other hand, India was trying to escape from a dialogue. The US, he added, could play a role in resolving the outstanding disputes between India and Pakistan.
Quraishi also said Pakistan wanted to play a positive role in Afghanistan.
Responding to a question about the state of US-Pakistan relations, he said, “I’m here to reconnect.”
He said he was meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on October 2, pointing out that the decision to hold these follow-up talks was taken during the top US diplomat’s visit to Islamabad earlier this month.
During Pompeo’s visit to Pakistan, he said there was a good exchange of views between the two sides on matters of mutual concern. Pompeo interacted with the country’s civil and military leadership and found them on the same page.
Quraishi noted that US priorities had changed and that it had a new friend in the region, India, he said.
“But please understand the value of long-standing friendship with Pakistan. Pakistan and the US can’t do without each other. Have new ones but why lose old friends?” the minister added.
“We need to see how to manage this new relationship [with the US] and expectations.”
Quraishi stressed the need to strengthen ties between the two countries, and not just connect with each other over Afghanistan. Currently, he remarked, adding, “The road to Washington is via Kabul.”
The foreign minister discussed at length Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours, Afghanistan and India, ties with the US, and the country’s relationship with China, as well as its role in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. He said the Trump administration had the right to choose new partners.
“Today India is their strategic partner. But let me remind you that whenever US stood with Pakistan, it benefitted,” he added, referring to the Cold War era and Pakistan’s vital contribution in defeating the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and also standing with Washington in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Quraishi, however, expressed concerns that the Taliban were regaining a foothold in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan had lost the most in the war against terrorism. “We’ve lost over 70,000 lives for this cause,” he added.
In response to a question about maintaining a balance while keep strong bilateral ties with the US and China, Quraishi said China understood the history of Pakistan’s relationship with the US and had no issues regarding this.