Pakistan wanted a relationship with the US that was in line with the changed priorities of the former from “geopolitics to geo-economics”.
Addressing the Margalla Dialogue Forum 2021 in Islamabad, the foreign minister said: “We value our relations with the US. Looking towards the future, we don’t want a transactional relationship with the US. We want multifaceted ties that are not susceptible to the vagaries of regional and international policies, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday.
“In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for a shift from geopolitics to geo-economics, we want a relationship with the US that is in sync with our changed priorities.” Qureshi added that enhanced trade and investment ties with the US, along with cooperation in regional connectivity would work for the benefit of both countries.
With Russia, he said Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach had not only led to a rapprochement but opened doors for reinvigorated relations in the security and economic realms. “The Pak-Russia trajectory is contributing to stability in the region and we will continue to strengthen it,” he maintained.
The foreign minister said: “The upshot is that a country like Pakistan sitting astride the crossroads of South, Central and West Asia cannot make binary choices. We will remain equidistant, accessible to all, reaching out to all. And, directly connected to all this, is the situation in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that the United Nations had also warned that 60 per cent of Afghanistan’s 38 million people were facing hunger or starvation. “There is a dire humanitarian crisis looming which has consequences not only for the people of Afghanistan but indeed us as neighbours, the region and beyond,” FM Qureshi said.
He added that Pakistan will host an “extraordinary session” of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on December 19 to mobilise support for providing adequate food, medicine and housing to millions of Afghans in dire distress. “Indeed, I believe Pakistan hosting the OIC Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan is in line with the leadership role that the country has demonstrated in the region,” he highlighted.
Qureshi said that from facilitating peace talks andshowing tremendous leadership across unprecedented rescue and evacuation operations to working closely with international partners for humanitarian outreach and bringing together neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and international stakeholders for a coordinated approach, Pakistan continued to work at every level for a stable, peaceful and prosperous regional future.
“We also continue to host over 4m Afghan refugees. We have advocated and worked for the establishment of an inclusive polity in Afghanistan, respecting the rights of all ethnic and religious minorities as well as of women,” he added. FM Qureshi said the Afghan Government has assured all its neighbours that their soil will not be allowed to be used for terrorism, adding, that the same message has been given by Kabul to extra-regional powers.
“The future of successful foreign policy hinges then on not repeating the strategic blunder of the early 1990s that led to a spate of civil wars, drought and terrorism, whose consequences we have been facing for the past 30 years. The world must learn from its mistakes,” he stressed. Speaking about the future of foreign policy and the role geo-economics was playing, the foreign minister described Pakistan’s relations with China as resilient and poised to grow further.
“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project, will leverage economic geography and connectivity of the three contiguous continents — Asia, Europe and Africa — ushering in prosperity for all global citizens,” he added.
