America wants Indianhegemony in region: experts

LAHORE US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pakistan was only a stopover in which he demanded Pakistan do more. The US wants to establish Indian hegemony in the region whereas Pakistan wants to develop relations with every country on the basis of equality.

These views were expressed by the experts at Jang Economic Session on ‘what should be Pakistan’s stance on US-Pakistan relations?’ The panellists were Muhammad Ali Mian, Farooq Hasnat and Jamshad Iqbal Cheema while the session was hosted by Sikindar Lodhi.

Muhammad Ali Mian said in global context the US role is to uphold its superiority to create issues among the nations to sell its weapons and keep developing nations obedient to it. He said Pakistan should have a clear stance like of sovereign country as the US gives priorities to its relations. He said the US played a negative role in spreading religious differences and wanted to make India a big power in the region which is unacceptable to Pakistan. He said the US wanted to put pressure on Pakistan which could only be countered with the help of stable government and economic growth. He said Pakistan should focus on CPEC and other development projects and control violence and improve ties with neighbouring countries.

Farooq Hasnat said the US relations with Pakistan, Turkey and EU countries are facing ups and downs. “Donald Trump’s policies are different from Obama. The US has no chances to win war in Afghanistan. It also needs Pakistan’s cooperation for better ties with China. Pakistan should learn from the past experiences and not trust the US on trade ties as it has already picked India as its trade partner. China is suitable trade partner for Pakistan and now ties between China and Russia are also improving. Russia will play a vital role in building peace in Afghanistan,” he said.

Jamshad iqbal Cheema said the US has become a powerful country by using IMF, World Bank and other institutions to rule the world. “Its policies contain threats and aids. The US image of soft power has become hard power after Donald Trump,” he said and stressed Pakistan to improve internal security.