KATHMANDU: In an interview with Russian Television, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said it seemed that the United States had lost sight of its objectives in Afghanistan.
He said there seemed to be no plan for ending the war. “The conflict in the country continues without any end in sight,” he said, adding, “It seems that they [US] do not know why they are there and what they are going to do or how they are going to get out.”
Bilawal identified terrorist attacks and the slipping writ of the state to be the two major problems plaguing Pakistan’s northwestern neighbour.
“The fact of the matter is that 75 percent of Afghanistan witnesses terrorist activity, 45 percent of its territory is not in control of the Afghan government,” he said.
Asserting Pakistan’s position on the recent bombings in Afghanistan, the PPP chairperson said, “We want there to be peace in Afghanistan, but it has to be an Afghan-led peace and the Afghan Forces and NATO Forces need to start taking responsibility for their failures, if they have not been successful, it’s time for us to rethink what we are doing.”
Speaking about the Syrian crisis and the aftermath of the war, he said, “The PPP believes in non-interventionist foreign policies and that if change is to take place, it should take place domestically and organically.”
On Arab Spring, he held that the West got ‘overly excited’ and did not allow the uprisings to take their organic course. He stressed that individual and foreign states agendas should not be promoted in Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, ‘the will of the people should prevail’.
On international relations, Bilawal said, “We have always emphasised good relations with all countries, especially our neighbours. I don’t think it is fair to expect Pakistan to not maintain good relations with its neighbours.”
He talked about the vitality of harnessing good relations between Pakistan and Russia, saying that Pakistan and Pakistanis ‘like to be treated with respect and the government of Russia and the people of Russia have been very respectful to the government and the people of Pakistan’.
Separately, Bilawal expressed deep grief and sorrow over the horrific attack at a school in Florida. “Our hearts go out for the little victims and their deeply bereaved families,” the PPP chairman said.
Published in Daily Times, February 16th 2018.
