Home TRENDING PREMIER CRITICISES WESTERN ‘OBSESSION’ WITH CONTAINING CHINA, SAYING, “IT’S NOT A COLD...

PREMIER CRITICISES WESTERN ‘OBSESSION’ WITH CONTAINING CHINA, SAYING, “IT’S NOT A COLD WAR.”

PREMIER CRITICISES WESTERN 'OBSESSION' WITH CONTAINING CHINA, SAYING, "IT'S NOT A COLD WAR."

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ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan, according to caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, is looking out for itself without taking sides in the great power conflict, while the West is “over-obsessed” with trying to rein in China.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar appearing for an interview with TRT World on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. SCREENGRAB

In an interview with the Washington Post published on Wednesday, the prime minister of Pakistan stated his country’s intention to remain “neutral” on Russia’s war with Ukraine and that China was Pakistan’s “all-weather friend” and “strategic partner.”

A cold war this is not. Unlike in several other countries, the Iron Curtain does not exist in this one. You can see through it. The prime minister stated that the public was “over-obsessed” with Western efforts to restrict China.

The prime minister stated that Islamabad had no intention of committing to either camp in the developing US-China rivalry and that Pakistan was charting a way to avoid getting caught up in the fight between the West and Russia and China.

According to Kakar, Pakistan paid a heavy price for supporting the West in its fight against the Soviet Union and again after September 11. Moreover, “Pakistan in the last 30 years, has been treated unfairly by the West,” he said.

“Each country for itself… To what extent should we be concerned about the rivalry in this field? It involves two powerful nations, two advanced cultures, and could have repercussions for over a hundred and fifty nations. And Pakistan is only one of them,” Prime Minister Kakar said.

Prime Minister Gilani said, “This crisis is creating challenges and at the same time it is creating opportunities also within the region, and we are looking at it both ways.” Gilani was referring to Pakistan’s “neutral” stance on Ukraine.

A media report claimed that Pakistan was sending weapons to Ukraine, but Prime Minister Kakar vehemently disputed these claims, saying, “We have not gone for any sale which was directly intended for the Ukraine, not any sort of transactions, even through a third party.”

Mistreatment of PTI employees is not true, according to the PM.

When asked about the detention of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members, the prime minister denied any wrongdoing and drew parallels between the treatment of those individuals in Pakistan and the treatment of those responsible for the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol in the United States.

Someone “involved in arson or vandalism” has been arrested, he claimed, thus the law is being enforced. This is not the sort of conduct that is defended or encouraged in a free and fair society. The expectation that Pakistan will tolerate such actions begs the question: “Why?”

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