ISLAMABAD – Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir in an interview said Pakistanis planning a ‘regional recalibration’ of its foreign policy after thesuspension of the US security assistance.
In an interview with Financial Times, he said Islamabad is now deepeningits relationship with Russia and China as well as Europe for militarysupplies, Radio Pakistanlink> reported.
“We have already bought some Russian helicopters in the past three years,”he said. “This is what we call a regional recalibration of Pakistan’sforeign and security policy. It’s because of the unfortunate choice theUnited States continues to make,” Dastgir further stated.
“It is unfortunate that we are even discussing the numbers [the amount ofaid] while Afghanistan slowly spirals out of the American and Afghancontrol.”
The federal minister also said that Pakistan and US still shared manyinterests but in Washington “lately, the focus has been on areas ofdivergence”.
“The fact that we have recalibrated our way towards better relations withRussia, deepening our relationship with China, is a response to what theAmericans have been doing.
And they have their own reasons. They want to use India, in our view, tocontain China,” Dastgir conclusively stated.