Analyst: No change in US' Pak policy

In an interview with IRNA, former Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand said from a person like Donald Trump one would expect that he would pressurize Pakistan to do more and to be seen doing more.

“That would be challenge for Pakistan on how to deal with the new administration and how to remove Trump’s fears about sanctuaries that Pakistani government has been consistently denying and some people in Afghanistan claiming that they exist inside Pakistan,” he said.

The expert said there would be no fundamental shift in the US policy towards Pakistan but there are fears that Trump would take a very harden stance and approach on resistance inside Afghanistan and in that connection he might bring some pressure on Pakistan to deal with more determination and more intensity with people who are suspected to be living here and organizing attacks inside Afghanistan.

“I think Trump will keep the soldiers in Afghanistan and in his recent talks with the soldiers in Afghanistan he complemented them, congratulated them and if that is the mood in Washington then I think the current situation will remain in Afghanistan with no prospects of any breakthrough in peace talks in near future,” he said.

Commenting on Trump's position regarding Pakistan-India ties, he said, 'I don’t think the US will play any role in resolving tensions between India and Pakistan.'

The analyst said the US needs a reliable and strong partner in South Asia against its most serious Asian rival, China. So Trump will not take any step that could annoy a good ally like India. The US is thinking about its ties with India more than Pakistan.

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