“For the first time in Pakistan's political history, officials took a stand against the arrogant policies of the United States and a movement supported by the people was formed to oppose American hegemony in the country”, said Yusha Hayati, an expert on Indian subcontinent, in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily.
“Pakistani government officials had openly stated their opposition to the US policies during recent political standoff in the country – a move that we should be optimistic about it,” he added.
Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Russia last month and held talks with the country’s President Vladimir Putin. Prior to the visit, Pakistan's foreign policy regarding its interest in developing relations with the powers in the east had not been clearly stated. “But since taking office, Imran Khan government’s policies on cooperation with countries such as China and Russia and its distrust of the United States came to surface. Imran Khan's policies were aimed at shifting from the western bloc to the east for the benefit of the country and the people as he believed that the US had tried to impose its policies on Pakistan for its own benefit over the past years,” Hayati explained, pointing out that in line with those policies, Imran Khan seriously followed up the negotiations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan.
The project, currently underway in Pakistan, is a road and railroad transport network from northeast to southwest Pakistan, which includes a large number of infrastructure projects in which China invested. The project is expected to bring economic benefits to Pakistan and create many jobs.
“Following Imran Khan’s support for the Eastern bloc, some parliamentarians and political parties launched a campaign against him, which was also welcomed and supported by the US Embassy in Pakistan. Thus, a systematic backlash was created against the government in order to overthrow it, which was financially sponsored by the Americans.”
Hayati maintains that Pakistanis are generally opposed to the US interference in their country and supported Imran Khan, even though the opposition pursued the no-confidence motion in the parliament to oust him.
“It is surprising that the no-confidence motion was introduced so quickly in the parliament, because the judicial system in this country is often slow in dealing with judicial matters,” Hayati added, saying that “We have been witnessing the kidnapping of Shia youth and some politicians in this country for several years, whose fates are unknown and the judicial system takes no practical steps to resolve such problems. But during the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, we saw that the head of the judiciary held a court hearing on an off-day.”
After the ouster of Imran Khan, it’s expected that a more pro-American government would seize the power. “Pakistan's relations with China will be affected by the developments in the future and the CPEC project might even be suspended,” Hayati said. “Meanwhile, it’s not unlikely that the Pakistani government's stance regarding support for Russia would change.”
A premiership hopeful is Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is dealing with several legal cases in Pakistan’s courts. Powerful army generals also seem to disagree over whether Pakistan's approach towards east vis-à-vis west, Hayati concluded.
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