Report in The Nation, Sept 28, 2023
ISLAMABAD – Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that Pakistan was focusing on its own interests without choosing sides in the great power competition, and that the West was “over-obsessed” with efforts to contain China.
The prime minister, in an interview with Washington Post during his visit to New York to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly session published on Wednesday, said Pakistan intended to stay “neutral” on Russia’s war with Ukraine and saw China as its “all-weather friend” and “strategic partner.”
“It’s not a Cold War. There is no Iron Curtain here. It’s not that opaque. Everybody sees what is happening,” the prime minister said. He said that the West was “over-obsessed” with efforts to contain China.
He told the interviewer that Pakistan was charting a path, designed to avoid getting caught up in the competition between the West and Russia and China. He said Pakistan had no intention of committing to either camp in the growing US-China rivalry.
By siding with the West against the Soviets and again after 9/11, Pakistan paid a high price, Kakar said. “Pakistan in the last 30 years, has been treated unfairly by the West,” he told the interviewer.
“Every nation for itself… Why should we be worried about this competition? It’s between two great powers, two great civilizations, and the implications [affect] 150-plus countries. And Pakistan is just one of them,” PM Kakar remarked.
https://www.nation.com.pk/28-Sep-2023/pakistan-to-avoid-getting-caught-up-in-great-power-competition-pm
