Webinar on Foreign Affairs held under Auspices of Karachi Council.

KARACHI -- A Webinar under the Auspices of Karachi Council on Foreign Affairs was held by their Chairman Mr Ikram Sehgal on Reset of US-Pakistan Relations.

Mr. Moeed Yusuf, Special Assistant to the PM on National Security and Strategic Planning was the Principal Speaker; other speakers included Amb Cameron Munter (Former US Ambassador to Pakistan), Dr. Daniel Markey (Senior Research Professor John Hopkins University, USA), Dr. Huma Baqa (Professor IBA Karachi) and Mr. Moin Fudda. Member Board of Governors KCFR moderated the Webinar.

Mr Moeed Yusuf highlighted that we were now in a very different world due to the changed dynamics. The key elements for Pak USA relationship should be focused on having peace in Afghanistan, besides internal support and role of India due to security concerns in the region. That our relationship should focus on partnership rather than monetary assistance and focus on mutual assistance for improvements in all area by leaving the past behind. For the Afghan peace process, it was important to reach the finish line as everything has been spelt out and milestone driven. He added that Pakistan has no issues with USA- India partnership as long as there is objectivity and negativity / crisis is not initiated by India. There is a need to engage USA private investors and a starting point can be the experience of MNC's operating in Pakistan. In addition all Pakistan foreign missions are being requested to improve business to business private sector engagements.

Ambassador Cameron Munter stated that it is important to engage the President elect Mr. Biden's administration early to create a positive approach with a new style. There are quite a few staff in the US administration on the Afghan and other foreign policy matters and will be willing to solve multilateral matters. On the global issues, engagement can be on E-Governance, Pandemic etc. India presently has issues which will be evaluated viz.a. viz. China and US/Australia/India/Japan. On the private sector engagement, there is a need to have new business areas like IT etc. instead of the traditional ones like Textile which were quota driven. Pakistan's focus should be on playing the role of an

economic and diplomatic player.

Dr. Daniel Markey emphasized that bilateral mechanisms need to be developed. He stated that new ways need to be adopted. Some...