Lahore, February 14, 2022 (PPI-OT):On November 29, 2021, Dr. Rabia Akhtar (Director, Center for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR)), was hosted for a talk by the Institute of Graduate Studies, International Aydin University. In her lecture entitled ‘The Impact of U.S. Foreign Policy on Pakistan’, Dr. Akhtar delved into the implications of Washington limiting its engagements with Islamabad and the region after its complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Stressing that this pull back must be seen as an opportunity for Pakistan and other regional actors, Dr. Akhtar shed light on how Islamabad and Ankara can reorient, and recalibrate their relations, with a view to leading the broader region towards strategic connectivity both economic and political. She said that both countries have what it takes to assume leadership positions in the region.
For that, she said that it is important for both countries to precipitously improve their bilateral relations. Surveying the current state of their relations, she stressed the need for both countries to center their ties on economics and trade given that both provide each other with vistas of strategic pathways to strengthen ties in the said realms.
Further, Dr. Akhtar explained Pakistan’s foreign policy outlook and challenges, arguing that the simmering situation in Afghanistan and a plethora of threats emanating from a very aggressive, revanchist India pose formidable threats to that country. These multifarious troubles, she argued, can be addressed only if Pakistan continues taking steps towards making its policy framework more robust, dynamic, and forward-looking. She emphasized that, Pakistan’s new foreign policy vision dovetails fittingly with that of Turkey, something that makes it ever so propitious to take Ankara- Islamabad to the next level.
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