Convergence needed for regional connectivity

Islamabad : Quadrilateral convergence between countries including China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan on security issues in Afghanistan was imperative for regional connectivity, said Zamir Akram, former Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations.

Akram was addressing an in-house session on “Future of Afghanistan-India relations” at Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here Tuesday.

Akram said that while the US withdrawal from Afghanistan led to unprecedented humanitarian and economic crisis, it also created several avenues for Pakistan to reconfigure its relationships with some of the major countries. He added that it was evident that the US-Pakistan ties did suffer the brunt of the withdrawal and no matter how unrealistic, the US continued to blame Pakistan for its own failures against the Taliban.

He said that it was also true that India’s influences and its inroads into Afghanistan were majorly reliant on US support. The withdrawal had altered this reality, reducing India’s role and presence which other countries, in particular Pakistan, could optimally utilise. In that, he said, that the neighbouring countries including Russia, Iran and China, in addition to Pakistan, could work towards establishing stronger footholds in Afghanistan due to the momentary vacuum left by India.