US Foreign Policy expert, Walter Russell Mead, speaks on India, Pakistan and Afghanistan

The Moderates hosted Mr. Walter Russell Mead, Senior Fellow, US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Mead was speaking to a select gathering arranged by Moderates, a private sector think-tank. Moderates Chairman, Syed Jawaid Iqbal introduced Mr. Mead and thanked the US Public Affairs Department for providing excellent speakers to his think-tank.

Observing that a lasting peace in Afghanistan was not possible unless Pakistan’s security concerns were taken care of, Mr. Mead admitted that that there was an intellectual deficit in the US about the ground situation in Afghanistan and Pakistani tribal areas.

Speaking on the US-India nuclear deal, he said that before coming to Pakistan he had talked to some of the critics of Pakistan’s nuclear programme and his take was they were willing to discuss nuclear cooperation arrangement. However, he did not mince his words on the role played by Pakistan in nuclear technology proliferation to South Korea, Iran and Libya and called it a “stab in the back.”

Replying to a question about US sanctions against Pakistan and the under-mining of its interest vis-à-vis India, Mead made it clear that US would never take sides on the Kashmir issue and wanted amicable relations with Pakistan.  

Mr. Mead also spoke about the tribal areas in NWFP and the upcoming elections in the U.S.