US needs Pak help on Afghan issue: Mushahid

ISLAMABAD - Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) Mushahid Hussain Sayed has said that Pakistan has a number of cards to play and the United States desperately needs Pakistan in the context of Afghanistan.
Referring to the forthcoming Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue, he said that Pakistan was going to the Dialogue with the strong hand and urged the Government to drive with the bargaining to preserve, protect and promote Pakistans national interests. He was speaking to the media persons after chairing a session on Security and Development at the national conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists.
Mushahid said that Pakistan should ask the US to stop India from destabilising Pakistan via Afghanistan. He sought FATA-specific initiatives like revival of ROZs, immediate and unconditional release of coalition support fund and a future vision for comprehensive peace in the region that accepts the reality that the route to Kabul lies through Kashmir.
He also proposed that Government of Pakistan and the US should work together for provision of 10,000 work visas to educated men and women of FATA so that they could gain employment in the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and UAE.
Chairing the conference on Security and Development, Mushahid said that time had come to redefine national security and strengthen it through civilian components like political parties, rule of law, Parliament, provincial autonomy, free media, education and economy. He said that in the 21st century, national security could no longer be viewed purely through military might alone and this had been demonstrated by the failure of military-centric policies of the former Soviet Union, the US in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel in Palestine and India in occupied Kashmir.
He also drew a linkage between economy and security and said that the over $2 trillion spent by the US after 9/11 in the military campaign was a catalyst for the collapse of its economy. He sought more international pressure on India for a resolution of the Kashmir conflict.