NEW YORK
\nForeign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that with increased engagement on both sides, the relations between Pakistan and the United States were heading in a positive direction as both countries were building a more broad-based partnership.
\n\u201cI absolutely believe we are now heading in a positive direction, with increased engagement on both sides,\u201d he said in an interview with an American television news program PBS Newshour during his visit to New York and published on their website.
\nHe said both countries were finding areas in which they agreed on to work together and were cooperating on climate, health, business and economic opportunities, particularly for women.
\n\u201cSo, there\u2019s a whole host of areas in which Pakistan and the U.S. are cooperating. I think this is all a healthy sign, given, in the past, our cooperation was very narrow and specific within the context of the war on terror. We\u2019re now building a more broad-based partnership,\u201d he remarked.
\nTo a question, the foreign minister said Pakistan had a long history or relationship with China as both neighbors had a lot of cooperation, particularly on the economic front.
\n\u201cBut we also have a historical relationship with the United States that stretches back to the 1950s. And we have partnered over the course of history, and I believe, whenever the United States and Pakistan have worked together, we have achieved great things. And whenever there\u2019s been a distance developed between us, then we have faltered.\u201d
\nHe said it was \u201cabsolutely possible\u201d for Pakistan to engage with both China and the US.
\nAs far as Russia is concerned, he said \u201cwe aren\u2019t pursuing or receiving any discounted energy, but we are facing an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, pump prices. But we do have energy insecurity.\u201d
\nHe said Pakistan was exploring various avenues to expand its areas where it could get energy from, and any energy that it received from Russia would take a long time to develop. Asked whether Imran Khan would win if the early elections were held, the foreign minister said \u201che wouldn\u2019t win.\u201d
\nHe said the removal of Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion was a cornerstone in Pakistan\u2019s democratic development as every other prime minister was either removed through a military coup or the orders of a Supreme Court.
\n\u201cThis is the first time through a democratic constitutional procedure a prime minister was removed from Parliament.\u201d He said as far as the by-elections were concerned, Imran Khan resigned from seats that he held himself.
\n\u201cSo I believe this there is a false perception that\u2019s been created about Mr. Khan\u2019s popularity through social media and falsely portraying winning by-elections in his own seats as some sort of testaments to his popularity across Pakistan.\u201d
\nTo another question, he said Pakistan\u2019s democratic achievement over the last decade was that it had one Parliament after the other complete their five-year term. \u201cWe had a government from 2007 to 2013. That Parliament completed its term and peacefully transferred power to the next Parliament, and that Parliament completed its term and transferred the power to this Parliament.\u201d
\nHe believed that it was not a justifiable reason for Pakistan to break that precedent just because Imran Khan hasn\u2019t remained prime minister for the last six months. He told the interviewers that Pakistan had been advocating for the world to engage with Afghanistan because \u201cwe shouldn\u2019t repeat the mistakes of the past.\u201d
\n\u201cSo, absolutely, we insist, not only Pakistan, but the international community must engage with Afghanistan. As far as women\u2019s rights are concerned and women\u2019s education is concerned, I believe that it is \u2014 it within \u2014 at least, in Pakistan, we believe that women have a right to education and a right to equal space in society at all levels.\u201d
\nHe said Pakistan was proud to have elected the first female Muslim prime minister. In the Afghanistan context, he said Pakistan encouraged them to do the same for Afghan girls as they had committed with the international community, with their own people, and with everybody else.
\n\u201cWe encourage the fact that primary education for girls is allowed in Afghanistan. Tertiary education for girls is allowed in Afghanistan. And we look forward to the day where secondary education will also be allowed.\u201d
\nTo another question, the foreign minister agreed that politics should not be a family affair during the last 55 years of his party\u2019s existence, they had gone through three generations of leadership. It should still be the first generation of my family doing politics, let alone the second already being lost, and me having to step up and fill the role that I am fulfilling today, he added.
\nHe said the Pakistan Peoples Party pursued democracy, advocated for democracy in Pakistan, and left it to the people to decide who they wish to elect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that with increased engagement on both sides, the relations between Pakistan and the United States were heading in a positive direction as both countries were building a more broad-based partnership. \u201cI absolutely believe we are now heading in a positive direction, with increased engagement on both sides,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[555,3432,20,1913,444],"class_list":{"0":"post-301626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-bilawal-bhutto-zardari","9":"tag-foreign-minister","10":"tag-pakistan","11":"tag-partnership","12":"tag-us"},"yoast_head":"\n