Pakistan rejects US stance, underscores need for foreign policy review
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HYDERABAD - Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Hussain Haroon Friday said the United States’ stance over Pakistan was not acceptable for promoting reciprocal bilateral relationship.
Talking to the media here, Haroon underscored the need of formulating Pakistan’s foreign policy anew so that the country could set its priorities itself.
“We sacrificed our 2 to 3 generations in the United States led wars but we are being meted out such unfair treatment,” he said. He accused the US and the West for throwing Pakistan in the quagmire of terrorism by making it a front line state earlier in their proxy war against the Soviet Union and later in the US led invasion of Afghanistan.
Haroon said that following the 1980s insurrection in Afghanistan, the USSR dismembered and Pakistan became an enemy of Russia. “But then the West suddenly withdrew its support for Pakistan,” he said.
He observed that over a period of 7 years the US released around $7 billion to Pakistan under the coalition support fund for its Afghan mission. In contrast, he added, the US had set aside $9 billion for India for the defence purchases.“We are being ignored. America’s such attitude is hurting the bilateral relation,” he underlined. The FM said Pakistan could not accept the blame game which had been unleashed under the FATF.
He said the devaluation of Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar caused financial losses to Pakistan in the international market while also weakening the country’s economy. The situation needs immediate resolution,” he emphasized, adding that Pakistan ought to correct its strategy and that the time had come for a befitting response.
“We need to keep in sight what the US did to Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and other countries. And we also need to increase the number of our friendly countries,” he stressed.
Haroon predicted that the in the aftermath of the 2018 general elections Pakistan’s political problems appear set to increase instead of decreasing.
“Our politicians are not sincere when it comes to dealing with such sensitive issues. They are rather more interested in protecting their assets in the foreign countries,” he deplored. Haroon said the politicians would have to sensitize themselves for the country’s stability and that of democracy as well. - APP
