ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the United States cannot afford to ignore Pakistan given the historical relationship between Washington and Islamabad.
Speaking with Shihab Rattansi of Al Jazeera, Qureshi, when asked to comment in the backdrop of the US withdrawing from Afghanistan, said Pakistan’s geostrategic location, its unique position among the Muslim countries and the history of bilateral ties between the two countries lessen the probability of a breakup.
Independent political observers believe the US withdrawal from Afghanistan offers Pakistan an opportunity to reorient its international image by playing a key role in encouraging regional cooperation to ensure stability in Afghanistan.
“They [the American establishment] could not lose Pakistan […] it would be a big political mistake,” Qureshi told Rattansi.
President Joe Biden in April announced to withdraw the remaining 2,500 troops from the war-torn country by September 11, 20 years to the day after the al Qaeda attacks that triggered America’s longest war.
The announcement coincided with the American intelligence community releasing a gloomy outlook for Afghanistan, forecasting “low” chances of a peace deal this year and warning that its government would struggle to hold the Taliban insurgency at bay if the US-led coalition withdraws support.
Washington, Qureshi asserted, has realised the importance of Pakistan, especially in the peace and reconciliation process of Afghanistan. Pakistan has always maintained that peace and stability in Afghanistan was a shared responsibility of the international community, he said.
However, the foreign minister cautioned Islamabad could not be blamed if the situation in Afghanistan goes south.
Pakistan, he said, has played its part in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan and would continue to do so. But “we cannot be held responsible if there were internal squabbling inside Afghanistan”, he added.
The foreign minister said Pakistan would be the net beneficiary of peace in the neighbouring country since it had been making sincere efforts to bring peace there.
Qureshi observed US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad publicly acknowledged the positive and constructive role Pakistan played in getting the Taliban and Afghans to negotiating table, facilitating the peace agreement between Washington and the Taliban and pushing the intra-Afghan dialogue forward.
“We are still trying to break the stalemate that existed there,” the minister added. Pakistan always acted as a facilitator between the Taliban and the Kabul regime, he said.
Qureshi said Pakistan could not be more irrelevant in the region due to the security picture and the changing global scenarios.
When asked, the foreign minister said Afghanistan was a sovereign country and could maintain ties with India. Islamabad has no objections to the ties and New Delhi’s reconstruction efforts in the country.
“But, they [India] have their limitations […] with regard to the peace negotiations as they were not the immediate neighbours of Afghanistan and did not host millions of Afghan refugees [for decades],” he observed.
Qureshi said all big countries shared consensus over Afghanistan and convergence of opinion including China, Russia and the European Union.
About China’s role in Afghanistan, he said China was “its neighbour and their interest in peace and stability in the country was natural. They can help Kabul in reconstruction”.
“Moreover, China is building an economic corridor [Belt and Road Initiative] and the Gwadar port would facilitate the landlocked Central Asian countries who are part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, so their interest is natural,” he said.
With regard to Pakistan’s role in the US-China relationship, the foreign minsiter said Islamabad has, historically, acted as a bridge-builder between the two powers.
A working relationship between the two counties would have been naturally beneficial, he said.
He, however, said Pakistan is a friend to both countries. “Beijing stood with us through thick and thin and its support has been consistent,” he recalled.
The foreign minister also said that Pakistan was not looking for a post-Cold War camp situation. They realised the significance of ties with the US and valued its strategic cooperation with China.
“We want to be at peace with [our] neighbours,” he said, adding: “It was India that shied away from resolving disputes […] it ran away from composite and comprehensive dialogue, vitiated the atmosphere [for talks] and violated bilateral agreements.”
He said unilateral and illegal Indian steps in Kashmir had boomeranged, as there were voices inside the BJP government and throughout the country that such an approach would not work well for India.
To a question, he said Pakistan was pursuing policies of geo-economy and promoting regional activity, besides, ensuring peace and stability in the region. “Our interests lie in peace with India and peace in Afghanistan,” he said.
About ties between regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran and the role of Pakistan in improving it, Qureshi said if there was an improvement in their ties, both countries would gain from it.
He further said the world cannot shove the Palestine question under the carpet for long as it will continue resurfacing and simmering.
“I think, you cannot shove the Palestinians question under the carpet for too long. It will continue resurfacing, the way you look the other way, it will continue simmering,” he said.
He condemned Israel’s aggression in Gaza as “barbaric, inhuman and uncalled for”, saying that the excessive use of force on the holiest night of Ramadan 27 was unacceptable [for Muslims in Palestine] which triggered the violence.
He said that he was happy about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and hoped it would hold. Following the deadly 2014 violence, the ceasefire did not hold longer but it would hold now, he added.
He said that international law and humanitarian laws were violated in the week-long war. “The democracies in the West will not overlook the human issue,” he stressed.
