Amid rising tensions between the United States and China, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has made it clear that Pakistan does not want to join any camp, according to a news outlet.
Talking to Voice of America (VoA) Urdu, he said it is not in the best interests of Pakistan to become part of any confrontation.
He urged the US not to push the world towards another cold war through its actions against China.
His views came days after Islamabad skipped a US-hosted summit on democracy, where China and Russia were not invited.
The foreign minister said that it will not be easy for Pakistan to maintain a balanced relationship with US and China due to the Washington’s policy of going after Beijing.
“The United States is [also] ignoring India’s missteps to keep China in check,” he added.
“The world needs to save itself from the cold war mentality,” he said.
Talking about US-Pakistan relations, he said that Pakistan wants good relations with the US, adding that the Pakistani government has shifted its policy from geo-politics to geo-economics and the US can help Pakistan in this respect through trade, investment, and technology transfer.
He said that Washington wants to deepen relations with Islamabad, which shows that there is a positive change in the thinking of the US.
He said that Washington has recognised the role of Islamabad for stability in Afghanistan and during the negotiations with the Taliban, and evacuation of people from Kabul.
Talking about the upcoming Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) moot in Pakistan, he said the moot is also focused on humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
He said the OIC conference will be an opportunity for the Afghan interim government to remove apprehensions of the world.
He said an inclusive government, protection of women’s rights and not giving space to terrorists is in the interest of Afghanistan.
