Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Raoof Hasan has underscored Pakistan's pivotal role in bringing peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Pakistan's News and Current Affairs Channel today, he said Pakistan has sincerely been playing the role of a facilitator to make the negotiations between various Afghan factions and the government to find a durable solution to the crisis.

Raoof Hasan said India has been playing the role of a spoiler by supporting Daesh and other militant groups in order to thwart the peace process, but it would not succeed in such attempts. Referring to talk of revisit of US Afghan policy by the Biden administration, he said Pakistan believes that violence in Afghanistan might increase should the pace of US troop withdrawal slows down.

The Special Assistant said the world should take notice of Indian attempts to malign Pakistan, which has also been revealed by the EU DisinfoLab report. He said we must highlight this fact at all international forums to strengthen the case against New Delhi.

On the issue of Pak-China relations, Raoof Hasan said relations between two countries are robust and are working through mutual convenience. Contrary to Pak-US relations that are transactional in nature, Sino-Pak ties are based on mutual friendship, harmony and shared interests. Both countries have played a positive role in further strengthening these relations which have become exemplary.

Raoof Hasan said Pak-China relations have strategic, economic, trade and other dimensions, of which the economic one has assumed major significance lately. He said China is the country that is helping Pakistan in various ways. The stronger the Pak-China relations become, the negative impact would be on Pakistan's relations with the western countries.

Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting said It has been predicted that China will be a global power by 2028 which is a good omen for us due to our strong bilateral ties.

Raoof Hasan while dilating upon China Pakistan Economic Corridor said this mega project has moved forward to social, agricultural, poverty alleviation and other areas from its earlier focus on infrastructure development and power generation. He said work on CPEC related projects has gained major momentum during the tenure of PTI government. The incumbent government has devised such policies that are definitely benefitting the common man.

Responding to a question on Covid related cooperation with China, he said the friendly nation is providing us 1.1 million corona jabs free of charge. China is helping us build our capacity to overcome such challenges in future.

Appreciating the transfer of defense related equipment and technology to Pakistan by China, Raoof Hasan said this has helped us achieve self-reliance in defense and strengthened us. On its part, Pakistan has also supported China at all international forums and issues.

Raoof Hasan said Beijing has been supporting Pakistan's role in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan. China has developed direct relations with Taliban and it has hosted events in the past to bring together various stakeholders in Afghanistan.

On the issue of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Special Assistant said there has been a feeling in Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia and some African countries that the role of OIC has not been stronger enough to resolve various issues being faced by the Ummah. Raoof Hasan said as said by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan will have to play its role at the front foot as the era of passive policies has passed. We need to look for an alternative mechanism in order to protect our interests. He said OIC needs reformation and if it does not happen, we should also look for other options.

On the issue of Pak-Russia relations, the Special Assistant said that both the countries are on good terms and their cooperation is increasing in diverse sectors. He said today China and Russia are working together and it can facilitate good terms between Islamabad and Moscow.

Turning to the domestic situation, Raoof Hasan said conditions put forth by opposition parties for political stability cannot be acceptable to the government. The Prime Minister will not grant NRO to them in exchange for political stability. He said government is taking action against the criminal elements without any discrimination.

Turning to the role of media in dissemination of information, he said media needs to play its role for character building and inculcating strong moral values.

Raoof Hasan said Radio Pakistan is still a very important information tool through which the government's policies, programmes and development agenda can be conveyed to masses effectively.

Credits

Hosts: Muhammad Tariq Chaudhary, Bushra Iqbal

Co-Host: Javed Noor

Producer: Asad Ullah Khan

Executive Producer: Muhammad Tariq Chaudhary