Call for strong defence, economy to compete with India

LAHORE: US President Barack Obama’s visit to India has given a golden opportunity to Pakistan to strengthen its sovereignty, defence, economy and other sectors and activate Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) to compete India in defence and technology.
These views were expressed by the speakers at Jang Economic Session on ‘Impact of US president’s visit to India on Pakistan’ on Tuesday. The panellists were Dr Salman Shah, Dr Ehsan Malik, Aysha Hamid, Altaf Qamar, Pervaiz Hanif and Jehanzeb Mirza and the session was hosted by Sikandar Lodhi.
Dr Salman Shah said the US president’s visit had given a chance to Pakistan to take steps to promote education, industry and science. He said ties between the countries were based on interests and the US-India ties also followed the same rule. He said the US was getting a platform against China while India was developing its might and getting opportunities for economic growth. He called for 10 per cent annual growth to counter the Indian threat to the region. He said activating the ECO could be useful for Pakistan. He suggested balanced polices to develop ties with countries.
Dr Ehsan Malik said Pakistan strategic position was important but it was never manipulated. He said Indian PM Modi was the first leader in the Indian history who was banned to enter the US, but now India for its priorities made the US its friend. He said complaining the US President for not visiting Pakistan was useless as everyone visited economically growing and peaceful countries.
Aysha Hamid said the US had provided many development opportunities to Pakistan in education and Industrial sector but the governments were unable to utilise it due to their internal and external policies. She said due to weak policies of Pakistan, India managed to develop good relations with the US along with Russia.
Altaf Qamar said India wanted to rule the region and it developed ties with Russia and the US. He said the US decided to give ‘policeman power’ to India in the region. The US announced support for India in Security Council and defence sector and in return, the US will develop conventional weapon markets in India, he said. He believed if India became the permanent member of the Security Council then Kashmir issue will never resolve while it will also continue aggression and disturbance on the Pakistani borders. He said the US will never leave Pakistan due to its strategic location in the region while Pakistan should improve and strengthen ties with China and Afghanistan to fail the Indian agenda.
Pervaiz Hanif said Pakistan should take steps to remove its weaknesses. He said the US president visited India due to stable and growing Indian economy. He said the US played a negative role in Pakistan and used it against Afghanistan and Russia.
Jehanzeb Mirza said the US would not end ties with Pakistan due to its strategic position and Pakistan should manipulate it. He said Pakistan cannot return anything to US due to its weak economy.