PM says US-Pak ties should not be seen thru ‘lens of China’, ‘prism of Afghanistan’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday underscored that Pakistan-US relations stood “on their own” and the long-lasting relationship should not be seen through the “prism of Afghanistan” and the “lens of China”.

The prime minister was speaking as a chief guest at the US Embassy’s reception to commemorate the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan.

In his address, the prime minister highlighted the long-standing relationship between Pakistan and the US as well as the ups and downs over the last 75 years and insisted on a new beginning.

“Let bygones be bygones,” he stated. He agreed with US Ambassador Donald Blome that the relationship between Pakistan and the US should not be seen from the “prism of Afghanistan and the lens of China”.

“As I said, there will be a lot what your [US] side will want to say…But as long as we renew this friendship with sincere and serious dialogue, I can assure you that nothing will go wrong,” the prime minister added.

“Over the last 75 years, Pakistan-US relations touched their apex of glory but there were also several dips. We know the reasons but this is not the right time to recall them,” he further stated, adding that he sincerely wants to build and reset this relationship back to normal on the basis of trust, respect, and mutual understanding.

“What I am saying is that we need to go back to those wonderful times where our relations with the US weren’t beholding to others but stood on their own,” the prime minister added.

He said that it was time for the two countries to move forward and find ways to warm up the relationship to levels seen in the past.

Referring to the US support and assistance over the years, he regretted that the assistance worth $32 billion contributed by the US in the past was not spent in the right direction.

“Had we used this aid in a well-planned and properly supervised manner, we would have broken our begging bowl. But then there is no point in crying over broken bowls,” he further stated. However, he stated that Pakistan now wants to stand on its own feet.

Talking about his recent visit to New York for attending the UN General Assembly session, the prime minister said he met US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken who assured him of support for the flood-affected people.

He said that the floods in Pakistan this year are a disaster beyond means. “As we speak, four million acres area where standing crops of cotton, rice, sugarcane and date, are all gone,” he said, adding that 1,600 people have lost their lives including 400 children. He added that more than a million mud houses have been absolutely thrown into the Arabian Sea.

“Life saving of people have gone away. They are waiting under open skies for help and it is our duty to serve them. But whatever we do is not enough,” he added.

He said that the yawning gap between demand and supply is widening by the hour and this is just the first phase. The prime minister further stated that the final phase of reconstruction and rehabilitation is yet to come. “But that costs money and therefore, I again request you…that now we need the international community to stand by us and support us,” he asserted.

However, he clarified that the government is not asking for money but relief, funds for rebuilding the infrastructure, jobs, livelihoods, commerce, trade, and exports.

“We are working hard and overtime to help the affected people but it’s not enough until every affected person get all facilities back. The task of rehabilitation is even bigger which requires resources,” he asserted.

The prime minister recalled that when Pakistan was facing the worst kind of outages, then prime minister Nawaz Sharif decided to spend from our own scarce resources to invest in another 5,000 MW of electricity. He added that Ishaq Dar being the finance minister opposed tooth and nail, saying he does not have the money. “He [Dar] had his own pertinent point. But Nawaz Sharif thought on top of what we’re getting on CPEC projects,” he added.

He added that Nawaz Sharif stated that let us not delay it because if there is another sit-in the CPEC programme will be derailed and by the time of the 2018 election and we would not be able to show anything to the people of Pakistan.

As a result of that decision, he said that 5,000MW of electricity was added to the system. “The plants were installed in the fastest possible time,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022