Islamabad, Dec. 24 (TNS): Lashing out at United States officials for their threatening tactics, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Sunday said that the US appears to be continuing its decades old policy of trying to foment trouble in other countries in order to bring about regime change more sympathetic to Washington’s foreign policy goals.
Speaking at a Six Nations Speaker Conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Rabbani noted that US President Donald Trump has recently announced a new policy for American engagement in Afghanistan which implicitly admitted the superpower’s defeat in the country.
“The United States is trying to shift the blame for its defeat in Afghanistan on to Pakistan, and it consistently refuses to recognise the sacrifices of the people of Pakistan in the war on terror,” the Senate chairman said.
“Pakistan does not need to take heed of any ‘notice’ from a foreign nation. We will never sacrifice on our basic rights as a sovereign country,” Rabbani said in reference to the recent remarks on Pakistan by US Vice President Mike Pence.
Raza Rabbani also talked about the need for the leaders of Asian nations to make their own decisions on the future of their countries, or else history would never forgive them.
“Anything that does not pertain to the specific wishes of a superpower becomes controversial. The US decision of Jerusalem is altogether perplexing. The world has outrightly rejected the American announcement,” he said.
Touching on issues of national interest, the chairman also spoke to the audience about the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and how it had the potential to transform the economic fortunes of the region, ushering in a new era of prospertiy.
He said that a trilateral alliance of India-US-Israel is emerging against CPEC and it is bent on sabotaging the whole project.
“Pakistan believes in dialogue and friendly relations with its neighbours. The six-nation alliance should also play its role in rooting out extremism and sectarianism from the society. We should all adopt a new strategy to deal with threats instead of being hostage to current events.”
