Pakistan's foreign policy has entered a new phase: Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan’s foreign policy has entered a new phase and that the country’s relations with the United States, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are improving.

Addressing a seminar organised by the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad on Monday, he said Pakistan is now emerging as a reliable partner on the global stage and that Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia have now entered a new era, Express News reported.

The defence minister also mentioned that the investment from Saudi Arabia was increasing in various sectors and that Pakistan’s relations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were now being described as exemplary. These partnerships, he noted, were based on mutual trust and understanding. He termed China Pakistan’s ‘all-weather friend’, saying that both countries were determined to accelerate work on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Phase III.

Asif further stated that Pakistan’s access to the Central Asian countries of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan had significantly improved and that Pakistan was also working to further strengthen its relations with Turkiye and Iran. He further said Pakistan had emerged as an effective voice against Islamophobia, was focusing fully on reforms, and that Pakistan’s diplomacy reflected confidence and stability.

He added that Pakistan’s relations with the United States had improved, and praised the efforts of Pakistani diplomats, calling their work ‘commendable’. “Foreign policy is our priority. We must improve our relations with the world,” he said.

Former federal minister Khawaja Khurram Dastagir, addressing the ceremony, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned an attack on Pakistan, following which “we achieved victory.” He added that there was now a noticeable improvement in diplomacy and expressed satisfaction that many diplomats performed well individually.

He added that the global environment had changed after Pakistan’s 'battle for truth', and claimed that Pakistani diplomats had succeeded in transforming geopolitics. On China, he remarked that the world was amazed by its technological progress.