Pakistan wants to act as bridge between China, US

Gulf Today Report

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoys good relationship with both China and the United States and he has expressed his desire to act as a bridge between them with an aim to ease down tensions between the two global powerhouses and pave the way towards bringing them closer. 

Khan further said that Pakistan wants to play the same “instrumental role of the 1970s” that had brought Washington and Beijing closer.

In an exclusive interview with Liu Xin of CGTN’s The Point, the prime minister emphasised that his priority in Pakistan was the uplift of 220 million people which was also linked with peace and stability.

The still from the CGTN’s The Point interview of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"We have a good relationship with the US and also an iron-brother relationship with China. We want to play a role of the 1970s, when Pakistan was instrumental in getting the United States and China together," he said. 

Referring to the historic Sino-US breakthrough in 1971, in which Pakistan played a pivotal role; Khan said that the world was not ready for another cold war between two formidable powers.

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"The famous visit of Henry Kissinger (the then US Secretary of State) was organised by Pakistan, so we hope to play the same role," Khan said. 

Khan hoped that both the US and China would not escalate tensions, adding that Pakistan would not want to come to a position of having to choose sides between the two countries. 

"The world should not go through the situation where it is divided into two camps and it does not benefit anyone. I hope this does not escalate into another cold war where we have to choose sides," he said. 

Talking about the importance of peace and stability in the region, Khan said that conflicts take a major toll on the economy. 

"If you have conflicts, the first thing that gets affected is the economy and that's the last thing we want," he said. 

"I will get my people out of poverty if we have economic well-being, which comes with stability and peace," Khan said while talking about his desire to uplift 220 million Pakistanis. 

Talking about the situation in Afghanistan and the four-decade long Afghan conflict, Khan highlighted that Pakistan has been the worst beneficiary, as it has suffered the most, losing thousands of its soldiers and innocent locals, only because it shares the troubled border with Afghanistan. 

"It was for the first time that there was an opportunity of restoring peace in the war-torn country," Khan said, adding that Afghan Taliban takeover should be taken as an opportunity towards regional peace. 

"Pakistan, China and other European states had agreed that somehow the likes and dislikes of the Taliban government should be set aside and the only thing in minds should be the 40 million people of Afghanistan — half of them in a very precarious position of food security," said Imran Khan.