Pakistan has a history of excelent cooperative relations with the United States and wants to strentthen these ties as it also pursues close ties with China, the neighbring second largest world economy, army chief of the key South Asian country said.
General Qamar Bajwa, who heads Pakistan’s military, spoke at a confierence on security issues. His remarks carry a great significance in the current Pakistani political environment and the state of relationship with the United States.
In recent weeks, Pakistan’s embattled prime minister has been making rheotical statements accusing Washington of backing the Opposition in an attempt to topple his government through a no-confidence vote in the Natioinal Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament. Khan is battling for survival on the verge of a Parliamentary vote expected this weekend. He also anagered the United States by making a trip to Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March.
Pakistan’s military has been an influential player in the affairs of the state, and army chief General Qamar Bajwa urged a cooperative approach to international relations.
He also called for an immediate end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, signaling a departure from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s neutral stance. But the army leader also made it clear that Pakistan did not believe in joining any international camp.
He said Pakistan was trying to make itself a center for international economic interests by focusing on connectivity and friendship.
“Pakistan does not believe in camp politics and our bilateral relations with our partners are not at the expense of our relationships with other countries,” he said.
Pakistan, he noted, has a close strategic relationship with China, which has invested billions of dollars in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
He added “equally, we share a long and excellent strategic relationship with the US which remains our largest export market.”
Bajwa said Pakistan wants to broaden and expand relations with both China and emphasized that it wants to advance relations with the United States without impacting either of the relations with the two major powers.
In his remarks, Bajwa also underscored the importance of pursuing close relations with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Gulf countries, South East Asia, and Japan.
Speaking on the ongoing war in Ukraine, Bajwa said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must be “stopped immediately” and called it a great tragedy.
The army chief spoke at Islamabad Security Dialogue. Voicing Pakistan’s serious concern over the conflict, he remarked that “despite legitimate security concerns of Russia, its aggression against a smaller country cannot be condoned.”
“Pakistan has consistently called for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. We support immediate dialogue between all sides to find a lasting solution to the conflict,” he said.
Bajwa termed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as very unfortunate as thousands of people had been killed, millions made refugees, and “half of Ukraine destroyed.”
The army chief noted that the conflict gave hope to smaller countries that they could still defend their territory with smaller but agile forces against aggression by a bigger country by carrying out selective modernization of equipment.
In his remarks, Bajwa also referred to Pakistan’s excellent defense and economic relationships with Ukraine since its independence.
On Pakistan’s relations with Russia, he said they were “cold” for a long time because of numerous reasons. However, some positive developments in this regard had taken place recently, he added.
He also said Pakistan had sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine via Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes and would continue to do, he said. He cautioned that the continuation or expansion of the conflict would not serve the interests of any side, least of all the developing countries which would continue to face socio-economic costs of the conflict, which he said could “easily get out of hand”.
Gen Bajwa saw two camps working internationally at the moment, one going for contestation and the other for cooperation.
“I believe the world today is built by those who believe in cooperation, respect, and equality, instead of division, war-mongering, and dominance.”
He said Pakistan’s interest would be best served if it promoted cooperation between countries.
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