LAHORE - Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar said on Thursday there was nothing like permanent relations with any country in foreign affairs.
“US President Donald Trump has a unique style of politics, but we should take it seriously. He has negated his manifesto with regard to presence of soldiers in Afghanistan. The US politics is towing a narrative of encompassing Pakistan,” he added. He was speaking at a special sitting organised by the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust at the Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Tehreek-i-Pakistan. He said the civil and military leadership was on the same page to take foreign policy forward.
He said the US had a clear idea that Pakistan had overcome internal problems with the help of its army while there was no improvement in Afghanistan despite presence of coalition army troops. The US is strengthening India in the regional politics and also patting the back of Israel. The US has adopted this policy to deter not only Pakistan but also China and Russia. A strong India in the region is a need of the US, he added.
He said Pakistan should prefer its national interest to its foreign policy. “We should also ensure a worldwide lobbing to deal with the challenges. It is yet to ascertain what went wrong after successful meetings of US authorities with Pakistan,” he said.
He said Pakistan had never begged to the US and instead “we have lost our precious resources in the war against terrorism. The US has a clear understanding of the role of Pakistan in regional politics. To the maximum, US can impose financial embargoes on Pakistan, which should not be a matter of worry for us because we have already faced similar situation after nuclear tests in 1998. He said the US cannot repeat Salala Checkpoint incident against Pakistan. “We should stop unchecked movement across the Afghan border.”
He said China was enjoying good relations with Iran and Russia besides establishing CPEC in Pakistan. This project is also one cause of a stern approach of the US against Pakistan, he added. Vice chairman Professor Dr Rafique Ahmed presented him a memento at the end of the sitting.