Ambassador Masood Khan discussed a myriad of issues with Tim Horgan of the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire on June 8
At WAC New Hampshire Amb Masood Khan Addresses Major Issues
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington: In a June 8, 2024, Global in the Granite State podcast which provides listeners with a deeper understanding of important international news, Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, discussed a myriad of issues with Tim Horgan of the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire.
One important shared goal for Pakistan, the United States and all leading nations of the world is “to have peace and security in the region,” the ambassador said. “On one hand, we have to take steps to curb tendencies that would hurt international peace and security and, on the other, to promote the global commons that make this life better for the majority of the people.”
Speaking about the Global South, Ambassador Khan stressed the number one priority should be the elimination of poverty. “You have to reduce poverty to zero and that’s a goal that we should pursue,” he stated.
Underscoring that peace and security was a holistic subject, the ambassador emphasized the need for investment in sustainable development and also to face the challenge of climate change which “has become an existential threat for the entire globe.”
“We should also have a responsible and responsive international financial system” to enable countries to escape the debt trap and to make their economies more resilient and self-sufficient, he added.
On the subject of Pakistan’s relationship with the United States, particularly since the US withdrew its military forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, Ambassador Khan pointed out that the two countries have successfully recalibrated their relationship around the important issues of security and economic partnership. “When we talk about Pak-US economic partnership, which is all encompassing, we also include in it climate change and issues like healthcare, education, and people-to-people contacts, so that we could give strong sinews to this relationship,” he said.
On Afghanistan, Ambassador Khan reiterated the call for the Afghan government to crackdown on organizations like the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP). “We want the interim Afghan government to crack down on these outfits, particularly the TTP, to delegitimize and neutralize them,” he stated, adding that terrorism imperils not just Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also the United States and its allies in the region.
With respect to the 20 million Kashmiris who still do not have self-determination despite numerous UN Security Council resolutions calling for this to happen, the ambassador reiterated that Pakistan wanted the people of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir to be given a choice to determine their own future through the ballot box and not through bullets.
Referring to the growing relationship between the US and India, Ambassador Khan emphasized that a more balanced approach by the US would contribute to peace and security of the region. He noted, however, that Pakistan had its own independent space vis-à-vis the United States and “we want to use up that space in the economic and defense realms.”
And, on India’s part, its “preference should be neighborhood first and it should be a peaceful neighborhood,” the ambassador said. If they have good relations with their neighbors, including Pakistan, there could be more economic connectivity.
On US-China relations, Ambassador Khan stated that the “United States leadership has been managing the relationship with great care and wisdom.” He also noted that the recent visits by US officials have set the ground for a collaborative model, not a confrontational one. In his opinion, continuing rapprochement between the United States and China would be in the interest of the two countries and the world. Pakistan, he added, could act as an economic bridge between China and the United States.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
