Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Friday said he is the United States to reconnect with Washington, arguing that the U.S. should not lose its old ally even as it fortifies its relations with South Asian rival India.
Speaking to a gathering of experts at Asia Society, Qureshi noted that the United Sates has always benefitted from partnering with Pakistan over the past several decades.
The foreign minster will hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Washington on Oct 2 as the two countries seek a reset of relations in the wake of a spate of debacles centering around the Afghan conflict.
Qureshi, who represents the new Imran Khan Administration in Islamabad, said American priorities have changed and that it has a new friend in the region, India.
“But please understand the value of long-standing friendship (with Pakistan)… Pakistan and the US can’t do without each other. Have new ones but why lose old friends?,” the minister remarked,.
“We need to see how to manage this new relationship [with the US] and expectations,” he added.
“You can have new friends, but why lose old friends?” he posed the question at the event attended by American academics, analysts, international affairs students.
“I’m here to reconnect,” he said of the U.S.-Pakistan ties.
In the South Asian perspective, he said Pakistan wants to work for peace in the region, but on the other hand, India was trying to sidestep and taking part in a dialogue. His remark referred to New Delhi’s backing out of a meeting between the top diplomats of the two countries, which was to take place this month in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The U.S., he added, can play a role in resolving the outstanding disputes between India and Pakistan.
Qureshi also said Pakistan wants to play a positive role in Afghanistan, but that Afghanistan is not responsibility of Pakistan alone.
Qureshi stressed the need for strengthening US-Pakistan relations and not just connect with each other over Afghanistan. Currently, he remarked,
“The road to Washington is via Kabul.”
He said the Trump administration had the right to choose new partners.
“Today India is their strategic partners. But let me remind you that whenever US stood with Pakistan it benefitted,” he added.
His was referring to cooperative ties during the Cold War era and Pakistan’s key contribution in defeating the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and then combating al-Qaeda-linked terrorists after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He voiced concerns over the situation in Afghanistan where he said the Taliban were regaining foothold.
He said Pakistan had lost the most in the war against terrorism. “We’ve lost over 70,000 lives for this cause,” he added.
On Islamabad maintaining a balance in ties with China and the United States, he said Beijing is aware of the history of Pakistan’s relationship with the US and had no issues on this.
