Pakistan says US is not a world power anymore; will lean on China, Russia

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's envoys said America is not a world power anymore and Pakistan would depend on China and Russia, if its views on Kashmir and India weren’t taken into consideration.

"US is no longer a world power. It is a declining power. Forget about it," Special Kashmir Envoy of Sharif, Mushahid Hussain Syed said after after the conclusion of an interaction at the Atlantic Council, one of the top American think-tanks.

Another Kashmir Envoys, Syed and Shazra Mansab, are in the US as they want the global community to know about the current situation in Kashmir.

Syed warned the US that Pakistan will move toward China and Russia. He was apparently responding to a question from a member in the audience after the conclusion of the 90-minute interaction.

The remarks made by him, however, weren’t recorded on camera but were prominently heard in the room.
He also called China as an important factor in South Asia described Beijing as part of what he termed as Greater South Asia.

"There has been slow and steady building of relationship between Moscow and Islamabad," he said, referring to the joint military exercise between Pakistan and Russia,” he said.

Syed said the Putin government has for the first time agreed to sell arms to Pakistan and the US should take note of this changing regional alignment.

"Unfortunately under the Obama administration, there was a drift in American foreign policy towards our region, towards Afghanistan. There was confusion and there was a lot of flip-flops. I think, the Obama administration could not figure out this region Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a consequence this region suffered.

"With policies one step back and one step (forward), announcing surge, announcing a cut off time for exit. Asking sometime Pakistan that please we want to talk to the Taliban and then saying that we want to take on the Taliban and finally they said there would be no American troops and then they end up having 8,500 troops stationed in Afghanistan. It leaves this to the next administration," he said.