ISLAMABAD – Pakistan hopes for greater engagement with the new UnitedStates government and calls on President Joe Biden to follow up on theongoing Afghan peace process and withdrawal of US troops from the country,Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said.
“I think they (Biden administration) should realise there is an opportunityin Afghanistan and they should persevere with what was initiated and notreverse things,” Qureshi said in an interview with Al Jazeeralink.
“Push them forward, because, after a long time, we have started moving inthe right direction,” he said.
Pakistan facilitated the intra-Afghan talks and the US-Taliban dialogue andhas now called for the US to stick to the agreements.
Former US President Donald Trump accelerated a timeline for troopwithdrawal agreed with the Taliban in February last year, as the Bidenadministration comes in with 2,500 US soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan.
Under last year’s historic deal, all US troops are due to leave Afghanistanby April, but the Pentagon recently hinted it could delay that if violencedoes not abate.
“We are concerned because we feel violence can vitiate the climate,”Qureshi added.
“Pakistan has done a lot, we have really bent backwards to create anenvironment to facilitate the peace process,” he said, while blaming”spoilers” for the violence, identifying them as internal Afghan players”who have benefited from the war economy”.
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Qureshi said “there are elements from outside who do not share our vision,which is a peaceful, stable, prosperous Afghanistan.” “It is a sharedresponsibility to begin with but the ultimate responsibility is with theAfghan leadership. It’s their country, it’s their future,” he said.
He said, “Our approach, thinking, objectives and shared visions are verymuch in line with the priorities of the new administration. And thatconvergence can be built further.” Qureshi also called on the US not toview Pakistan’s close ties with China an economic and political rival tothe US as a “zero-sum game”.
“They have to understand that our relationship with China is not a zero-sumgame for them,” he said, making note of China’s $60 billion investment inthe China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
“They (the US) should come, compete and invest.”
He added that Pakistan was willing to act as a mediator between China andthe US, a role it played in 1972 when it facilitated talks to set up anhistoric visit to Beijing by then-President Richard Nixon.
“Pakistan traditionally has had the opportunity and has built bridgesbetween the two. In this environment, where there is a change Pakistan canbe a bridge-builder,” he said.
