Pakistan no longer ‘up for sale’: NSA

Pakistan is going to stand for what its interests are, not emotively but very pragmatically, adds Dr Moeed Yusuf

ISLAMABAD:

National Security Adviser (NSA) Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has set a new paradigm whereby the country will no longer be ‘up for sale', rather, it would orient its policies around safeguarding and standing up for its interests.

“Pakistan is going to stand for what its interests are, not emotively but very pragmatically,” he said in an interview with journalist Dr Moeed Pirzada, for Global Space Village.

“This has invited much criticism, with many deeming it a mistake, but it is true – Pakistan no longer will host bases,” he said, with regard to not allowing the airbases to any other country in future.

Dr Yusuf said for the past 20 years, there was an unwinnable war that “some wanted Pakistan to win for them, which was simply an unrealistic goal”.

He mentioned that in the past, decisions had been taken without the public on board, which ultimately “backfired”.

“This is a paradigm that this prime minister has set with every country and not just the United States,” he said, adding that “If there is a condition which Pakistan does not feel to be in its interest, we will not go for it”. APP