West over-obsessed to contain China: PM

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said Pakistan is focusing on its own interests without choosing sides in great power competition and that the West is over-obsessed with efforts to contain China.

Pakistan intended to stay neutral on Russia’s war with Ukraine and saw China as its all-weather friend and “strategic partner, he said in an interview with The Washington Post during his visit to New York to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly session.

“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.  Pakistan was charting a path designed to avoid getting caught up in the competition between the West and Russia and China."

He said Pakistan has no intention of committing to either camp in the growing US-China rivalry. By siding with the West against the Soviets and again after the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan paid a high price, Kakar said.

“Pakistan in the last 30 years has been treated unfairly by the West.  “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.

Regarding the Ukraine war, the prime minister said, “This crisis is creating challenges and at the same time it is creating opportunities also within the region, and we are looking at it both ways.”

Prime Minister Kakar rubbished the Indian reports against Pakistan. “We have not gone for any sale which was directly intended for the Ukraine, not any sort of transactions, even through a third party."

Regarding the arrest of workers of Pakistan Tehree-k-e-Insaf, the prime minister denied the alleged abuses and compared Pakistan’s actions to the arrests in the United States of those who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Arrests are being made for unlawful actions, somebody who’s involved in arson or vandalism,” he said. “This is not the kind of behaviour which is promoted or vindicated by any liberal democracy. So why is it being even expected of Pakistan that we should condone such behaviours?”