Speakers and participants at a roundtable discussion have expressed concerns over what they said was the US’ desire to establish regional hegemony and limit Pakistan’s military capabilities.
Despite a shift in the US policy from traditional security to non-traditional security towards Pakistan, the country will remain relevant for the US in the region, they argued. However they were of the consensus view that foreign policies of the countries are driven by their interests and Pakistan should focus on its indigenous strengths instead of looking towards the US.
The roundtable conference was organized by Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) to discuss US strategy towards Pakistan in the context of regional politics. The roundtable was chaired by Dr. Farah Naz, assistant professor at NUST, with guest speakers including Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Director and Professor of the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at Quaid-e-Azam University, and Amir Jahangir, founder, and CEO of Mishal Pakistan.
Ambassador Fouzia M Sana, Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal, Abdullah Khan, Guldad, also participated in the roundtable discussion.
Amir Jehangir presented a comparative analysis between the country documents for 2022 and 2023. He said that the prime focus of the new country strategy document was on climate change, global health, eco-friendly energy, economic stability, and trade. He said that it gave special emphasis on democracy, human rights, more roles of women, and diversity in working sectors.
Amir Jahangir said that in the traditional security domain, the focus is on countering terrorism and ending cross-border proxy terrorist attacks.
