LAHORE: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi has said the United States is not willing to release the amount – due under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) – which has already been spent by Pakistan, and yet claims Pakistan has “not done enough” in the ongoing war on terror.
Talking to a private news channel on Monday, he said that Pakistan’s role in the war on terror had been unprecedented, and the country had achieved immense success. “The work done by Pakistan has not been done by any European country or the US,” the special assistant added. He said the credit for the success goes to the elected leadership and the armed forces.
To a question regarding India’s attempt to isolate the country on the international front, Fatemi rubbished the claims that Pakistan had suffered due to India’s ongoing efforts. “I do not think Pakistan has been isolated diplomatically.”
He was of the opinion that India’s refusal to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference was more damaging to the region as a whole rather than just Pakistan.
“India does not forgive any country. Nepal’s SAARC summit was sabotaged by India. Maldives and Sri Lanka’s SAARC summits were also sabotaged by India,” he added.
He further said that India uses the SAARC summit as a means to pressurise other countries.
“All major international countries are of the opinion that the only way forward towards progress is through regional cooperation.”
He said that SAARC was the only organisation in the region for regional cooperation, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was to present proposals for cooperation that would have benefited every country in the region.
Talking about Russia and Central Asian states, Fatemi said that Central Asia was a blank spot in the foreign policy of Pakistan “for which we had no direction”. However, he said that measures had been taken to rectify the situation.
He said that Pakistan was now getting political support from the region after the shift in policy, along with economic, energy and power projects. “Using the connectivity, we will utilise the Central Asian states to enter Europe. The idea is to be connected to further deepen our ties,” he said. “We are also discussing construction of a road from Gwadar to the Pak-Iran border and beyond. Another option present is to make another diversion on the Karakoram Highway before Xinjiang and enter Kyrgyzstan,” he added.
