Experts probe US-Pak ties through lens of Afghan issue
Shares
ISLAMABAD: A number of leading foreign policy experts Wednesday opined that US-Pakistan ties were crucial for resolution of the Afghan issue.
In a two-day conference on ‘Irritants in Pakistan-US Relations: Way Forward’ organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Dr Tughral Yamin associate dean, Department of Peace
and Conflict Studies, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), said the US wanted a face-saving exit from Afghanistan.
While Pakistan’s new government was already trying to reset relations with the US,it also needed to build strong ties with the Afghan government by offering cooperation in various sectors especially in the bilateral trade, he added.
Professor Dr Rasul Baksh Rais of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), contended that wars could not be won decisively and it was, thus, important for transfer of security responsibility to the Afghans, focusing on building Afghan forces and continuing negotiations with the Taliban, a press release said.
In the last session, chaired by Lt. Gen. (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi, former defence minster, author and journalist Nasim Zehra was of the view that the bolstering and belligerence was a new approach from Washington which was not likely to change soon.
Concluding the two-day conference, Acting President IPRI, Brig (retd) Sohail Tirmizi thanked the distinguished chairpersons, speakers and participants for their enthusiastic participation.
APP
