• by David White (london)
• Monday, December 05, 2016
• Inter Press Service

LONDON, Dec 05 (IPS) - US President-elect Donald Trump has shown he has much to learn about South Asia, Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview with IPS. But he counted on Trump having an open mind.

Pervez MusharrafMusharraf was commenting on statements made by Trump in a radio talk show during his presidential campaign in September, when he described India as being "the check to Pakistan".

"I think that these statements do cause worry," Musharraf said. However, he thought that Trump had a "fresh" and "uninitiated" mind on the subject..

"He maybe lacks full understanding of international issues and regional geostrategic issues here, confronting us," Musharraf said. "But he has an open mind, he can learn, he can be told, he can be briefed."

He added a warning that pro-India US policy might force Pakistan to rely more heavily on its already extensive ties with China. "I think Donald Trump must understand you are no longer in a unipolar world, so countries will have choice to shift towards other poles. So don't do that," he urged, making clear that by "other poles" he was referring to China and Russia.

Failure to move towards a détente between Pakistan and India was another factor that might force Pakistan more into China's zone of influence, Musharraf said. But he added: "It is not in Pakistan's interest to be in the orbit of any one force."

He emphasised Pakistan's deep linkages with the US and other western countries and its reliance on them as export markets. "We can't switch trade to China, and that would be a very foolish policy and strategy," he said. However, China's support and economic presence put Pakistan in a difficult situation of needing to balance its relations.

"Pakistan has a relationship with China. The United States should not mind it," Musharraf said.

Commenting on other remarks made by Trump during his campaign – suggesting that it might be better if Japan, South Korea and possibly Saudi Arabia had their own nuclear weapons – Musharraf rejected the idea of Pakistan supplying the Saudis with a nuclear capability.

"We won't do that. Once bitten, many times shy, I think. We were proliferators once. I think we've learnt. And this is not a mere trade of industrial goods," Musharraf said. "I think this is too serious a matter. We can't do that."

Musharraf said America's "War on Terror", declared in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, had been "to an extent successful" in military terms. But he added: "Wherever military victory takes place it has to be converted into a political victory, and I personally feel that is where the United States fails."

© Inter Press Service (2016) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement