Former US ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter stated on Tuesday that Pakistan was out of America’s “do more” pressure.
The former ambassador went on to add that it can serve as a key moment for the country.
Munter, who is retired diplomat, now working as a global consultant, spoke at the Margalla Dialogue 2021 where he touched upon US-Pakistan relations.
“It is crucial for Pakistan to focus on economic issues,” stated Munter.
Munter stated that the US was directing its entire energy on tackling climate change, coronavirus, trade and digital governance issues.
“The US is not looking at this region with the same perspective as Pakistan,” he said, adding that like Islamabad, Washington is also facing a host of problems.
He further said that the US saw the problems of South Asia associated with terrorism and Afghanistan for the last two decades, adding that Washington’s present understanding of Pakistan is based on dated ideas.
He also delved into international politics, saying that it was not possible to limit warfare to generals or diplomatic missions to ambassadors alone.
“The foreign minister and diplomats are not just Pakistan’s representatives; its students, cricketers and teachers also represent the face of the country,” he added.
While speaking about the US, he said it would be a mistake to consider the US too weak or present it as an all-powerful country.
He further stated that “America’s defeat” in Afghanistan had changed the regional situation, adding that Pakistan was no longer under pressure from the US to “do more”.
“It is a crucial opportunity for Pakistan, considering that it is no longer under America’s “do more” pressure,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed the western media for its failure to give due credit to Pakistan during the Afghan war.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the annual Margalla Dialogue, Khan stated that Pakistan was held responsible for the shortcomings of the United States.
He further stated that while it was the United States that made mistakes in Afghanistan but Pakistan had to bear the brunt of the situation.
The PM went on to say that throughout the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan had to witness the biggest collateral damage as it was the only US ally that suffered more than 80,000 casualties, displacement of millions of people, and a loss of over $100 billion.
“The inability of the national leadership to handle the Afghan situation wisely landed the country into two main pro and anti-America divisions,” he said.
The premier further criticised the Western media and said that instead of giving Pakistan its due credit for the sacrifices it made, the country was accused of playing “a double game” and its reputation was maligned internationally.
The prime minister said Pakistan was blamed for wrong reasons by the international community, whereas it remained mum on the atrocities committed by New Delhi in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The PM further shed light on other matters too and said that uplifting the underprivileged segments of the society was critical to ensuring across-the-board national security.
He stressed that rule of law and equality for all were the preconditions for democracy and regretted that Pakistan had suffered an inequality due to three simultaneous educational systems, namely English and Urdu medium schools, and the madrassas.
The premier further stated that said lack of in-depth research led to reliance on second-hand information by the western think tanks on important issues such as Afghanistan.
He said the role of local think-tanks in this situation was important to effectively highlight Pakistan’s perspective in the world rather than being under continuous criticism by the western lobbies.
The premier also pointed out that differences in educational standards of the systems resulted in three different kinds of generations with discrimination in opportunities of jobs.
“Corruption, particularly of the elite, was detrimental to the development of a country,” he said, adding that Pakistani scholars and academics need to invest in research and development as research leads to original thinking within a society.
“You have to define yourself instead of letting others define you,” he said.
