Islamabad: The Foreign Office (FO) responded sharply to recommendations made by the former US Ambassador. Former ambassador for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, stated that Pakistan does not require “unsolicited counsel” over the issues it faces.
According to Khalilzad, Pakistan was “underperforming and slipping well behind” India. He said it the previous day. Khalilzad served as the special envoy for Afghan peace under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
“Pakistan is facing a political, economic, and security crisis. It is underperforming and falling far behind its archrival, India, despite its immense potential. “It is time for serious soul-searching, bold thinking, and strategic planning,” he had said on Tuesday night.
“The successive cannibalization of its (Pakistan’s) leaders through imprisonment, execution, etc. is the wrong route,” Khalilzad said, adding that arresting PTI leader Imran would only “deepen the situation.”
He advocated “two stages” to address the country’s problems. The first of which was to schedule general elections for early June in order to “avoid a meltdown.”
Second, he urged the major political parties to use this time to “confront what has gone wrong and provide a detailed strategy to rescue and put the nation on the route to stability, security, and prosperity.”
“Whichever party wins the election will have the people’s mandate to undertake what must be done,” he stated.
Afterward, Today, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch responded to Khalilzad’s tweets by stating, “Pakistan does not need lectures or unsolicited advice on how to deal with the issues we face today.”
“As a resilient nation, we will emerge from the current adversity stronger,” she continued.
