IPS arranged two insightful lectures on US’ Foreign Policy for South Asia by Dr Akis Kalaitzidis – a professor at the University of Central Missouri, USA – at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, and Riphah Institute of Media Sciences (RIMS), on November 29, 2019.
In his first lecture, which was delivered at the QAU department of the Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS), Dr Akis talked about the importance of foreign policy for any country while highlighting several issues in the foreign policies of the USA.
Speaking of India, he said that the country was among very good friends of USA and it is difficult to imagine that USA would do anything that India doesn’t like.
Expressing his views on Pakistan, the professor said that the country had gone through very tough times fighting terrorism but appreciated the resilience exhibited by the nation in overcoming such stern challenges
Over Kashmir issue, Dr Akis maintained that the matter had a humanitarian aspect associated with it and hence must be resolved in line with humanitarian rights. Terming a peaceful Kashmir the key for the region’s prosperous future, the speaker said that he was happy to see Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir well-developed and completely at peace.
In his second lecture, which was delivered at RIMS, the American scholar talked about the foreign policy of USA towards the South Asian region as well as how the country was planning to shape its relations with the South Asian countries going forward. He said the foundations of these relations would largely be based on trade and India being a good friend of USA will have an important role to play in this regard.
It may be mentioned here that Dr Akis was visiting Pakistan on a short trip to partake in two international seminars on Kashmir issue which were organized by IPS in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad, Azar Jammu and Kashmir on 26th and 28th November respectively.
