Pakistan ready to work with US for economic prosperity: Caretaker PM

NEW YORK: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said that Pakistan desired to have peaceful relations with all countries in the region and beyond as peace and stability were a prerequisite for economic prosperity.

“We do not wish to join any camp politics as Pakistan has successfully maintained good relations with both the US and China in the past, and would continue to do so. Rather than seeing these relationships as a zero-sum game, we believe that both relationships can coexist and flourish simultaneously,” he said while speaking at a session organized by the Council on Foreign Relations.

He said the world’s security challenges had grown increasingly complex. He said the shared challenges provided a new and urgent impetus for Pakistan and the United States to strengthen their partnership in pursuit of mutually agreed and mutually beneficial solutions.

The prime minister said both the countries had prospered whenever they had worked together. “We share common values and are committed to the same national and international goals,” he said.

He added that the bilateral agenda encompassed security cooperation, trade and investment, IT, energy, climate change, and agriculture as well as overall connectivity and enhanced people-to-people linkages through greater education and cultural exchanges.

“Our joint efforts such as the Green Alliance Framework will help counter climate change, build resilient infrastructure, improve public health, and combat food insecurity.”

On economic collaboration, PM Kakar said the revival of the Pakistan-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) had recently been witnessed after a gap of eight years which should pave the way for enhanced investment in Pakistan.

“The United States is our largest export destination. Over the past year, Pakistan’s total exports to the US reached an impressive US$ 8.4 billion. We need to work on US investment in Pakistan,” he added.

As a caretaker prime minister, he said, he was making it a priority to improve Pakistan’s business climate, and attract US capital and expertise. He said Pakistan had recently set up the Special Investment Facilitation Council to make it an attractive destination for investment and innovation in key areas such as agriculture, mining and minerals, information technology, energy, and defence production.

Speaking about the climate change issue, the prime minister said Pakistan still recovered from last year’s devastating climate-driven floods. He said despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan was among the countries most affected by climate change.

Pakistan is working hard to mitigate carbon emissions and transition to renewables. But we and other developing nations cannot shoulder the burden alone, he added.

The prime minister said the resurgence of terrorist threat by dangerous entities such as TTP and ISIS-K was a matter of grave concern for Pakistan and the entire international community.

READ MORE: PM Kakar warns of decisive crackdown against illegal trade, smuggling

Afghanistan and Indian relations

He said a stable Afghanistan continued to remain an important foreign policy priority for Pakistan and the United States. “We welcome the US direct engagement with the Afghan government, and on our part, would continue to push them to honor their commitments to women rights, girls’ education and ensuring that Afghan soil is not used for terrorist attacks against other countries.”

He said Pakistan remained desirous of peaceful relations with India but it also required reciprocal sincerity by the Indian government. “The measures taken by India in 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have pushed our region into a dangerous and dark alley.”

He said the rising wave of Hindutva-inspired anti-Muslim extremism in India should be a matter of deep concern for the entire international community including the US. He urged the US administration to persuade the Indian government that without amicably resolving the Kashmir dispute, as per the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir

He believed that a strong Pakistan-US relationship could be a force for stability and progress in South Asia and beyond. “Pakistan today stands ready to work with the United States and all partners who share our vision of a peaceful, prosperous world where cooperation triumphs over conflict.”

Replying to a question about holding general elections in Pakistan, the prime minister said the mandate of the caretaker government was to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold free, fair, and transparent elections.

However, he said there was a constitutional requirement for the delimitation of constituencies after the new population census which required around three months to complete. He said the general elections would probably be held by the end of January 2024.

Responding to another query with respect to the terrorism threats in the region, PM Kakar said due to the terrorism attacks from across the border “soldiers and other people are being targeted and killed on a daily basis”.

He said the Hindutwa ideology of the Indian BJP government was being expanded beyond India and the region as recently it killed a Canadian citizen in Canada.

Responding to a question regarding the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, the Prime Minister linked the episode to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideology of Hindutva.

He said the “unfortunate killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil is a reflection of that ominous tendency. He said for obvious economic and strategic reasons, many players in the Western capitals ignored this fact and reality”.