The cooperation between Pakistan and America for stable Afghanistan and peace in the region was imperative. Therefore, an effective and meaningful engagement on the diplomatic front must be revived and beefed up so that the forces with destructive agenda could be averted to get benefitted from this vacuum and cause further unrest and instability in the region.

Speakers expressed these views at seminar titled ‘The Implications of New Low on the Diplomatic Front of Pak-US Relations;, held by Sustainable Development policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Farhatullah Babar, senator Pakistan’s People Party (PPP),  was of view that the civilian input must be restructured at a greater level to deal with present  diplomatic crisis. He said that after the Tweet of president Trump, Pakistan waved olive branch by taking action against some militant groups but unfortunately, there was no policy guideline in-place to respond to situation in an organized manner.

He said that our house was surely not in order and we can observe a number of contradictions in the stance regarding the existence of sanctuaries of the militants and terrorists groups within our geographic boundaries.  He said that Pakistan can and has survived in the past without American aid so responding to current diplomatic challenges was crucial not because of but for the peace and stability in the region.

Ayaz Wazir, senior diplomat, on the occasion emphasized on the need for looking inward besides reviving the diplomatic engagement with America. However, he said, President Trump, was pushing the sole super power towards isolation as in international diplomacy, there was no room for such expressions.

He said that to win the war in Afghanistan, America has to work with Pakistan, where Pakistan has the opportunity to tailor its strategy according to its own national interest. He said that both the countries could remain as ally and thus to work for peaceful solution in Afghanistan.

General (R) Amjad Shoaib, defense Analyst while sharing his views with the audience said that the peace in Afghanistan was in the larger interest of Pakistan, whereas the US has no interest in peace. He said that Pakistan was the only country who has the pure interest in peaceful and stable Afghanistan. The process of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations was continuously sabotage by the US since the problem begins, and killing of Mullah Akhter Masood was the last nail in coffin of peace talks.

Earlier, Romina Khursheed Alam, MNA PML-N, said that Pakistan was being maligned unfairly. She said that Trump administration was turning its blind eyes on state terrorism of India on innocent Kashmiri people, which tells the double standard of the current US administration.

Gen (R ) Assad Durrani, also expressed his views on the topic and said that Pakistan should respond to President Trump’s tweet at different levels and  should look towards new regional players and form new alliances.

Source: https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2018/01/meaningful-diplomatic-engagement-pakistan-us-way-forward/