US President George Bush was keen to promote democracy and he also had concerns about repression in the Pakistani society, Dr Philip H. Gordon, an American foreign policy expert stated this during a talk at the Foreign Office Academy here on Saturday.
Although he said that he was speaking for himself and his talk did not reflect the views either of the Brooklyn Institute or the US administration, he was quite emphatic in saying that the US was focussed on democracy in Pakistan.
The scholar also referred to Afghanistan, India, and the ongoing war on terror, saying these elements also featured in formulations of American policy vis-à-vis Pakistan, and that President Bush was also interested in the way this country would shape in the years to come.
"We support democracy regardless of who might be the country's leader, and Pakistan just needs to push towards democracy." He wanted to have in-depth interaction in Pakistan because of his interest in how things were shaping in Afghanistan.
He said Americans recognised that the US could not succeed in Afghanistan without Pakistan's help, and losing Afghanistan would have consequences for the war on terror.
"Without Pak co-operation the US could not succeed in its mission." The scholar also answered a number of questions. Asked why was US issuing travel advisories against Pakistan, he said he knew of the current aggressive public mood against the USA and that General Musharraf was regarded as another face of America.
Yet there were American concerns for the orientation of Pakistan with the US. "You cannot expect not to advise people when there was so much violence", he observed.
About Iraq and Palestine, the scholar agreed that the two were intertwined and the solution to these two problems was linked with the war on terror. Yet he was emphatic in saying that US was not anti-Islamic, and that it had come out often to defend Muslims. The war on terror was directed only against the kind of Islam practised by al Qaeda.
He was informed that Iran and Pakistan had deep cultural and historical ties. Suppose affect US's involvement with Iran took a turn for the worse, would it Pakistan. Answering this, Gordon hoped Iran could be more understanding. He accused Iran of interfering in the Middle East. He referred to Indo-Pak relations and said, at present, America was infatuated with India because it was a huge democracy and had also adopted free market policies.
He, however, explained it was not the matter of US interest, but US wanted to build up a strong strategic relationship with Pakistan not only on security considerations but inclusive of encompassing cultural and social interests, and at the peoples' level as well as at the government level. "US relations with India is not built against Pakistan", he answered.
As for US nuclear deal with India, he said his country would be happy to sign a similar deal with Pakistan if Pakistan proved to be more democratic and displayed better behaviour.
There was no doubt that the Kashmir problem should be solved. Pakistan could do it by having better bilateral relations with India, and the US would facilitate, but could not use a lever against India, he added. In his perception, on balance, the US had committed a blunder in opting for war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Americans were now questioning themselves.
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