Najam Interviewed on Tillerson in South Asia
Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed by the Pakistani TV news network Dunya TV on U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent visits to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on October 27, 2017.
As part of Secretary Tillerson’s larger Asia visit, he has been in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi this week pursuing the implementation of President Trump’s new South Asia strategy. The conversation with Dean Najam focused on the implications of this visit on US-Pakistan relations. Najam suggested that the visit has only confirmed that “US-Pakistan relations are were strained well before President Trump’s speech, are strained today and are likely to remain strained.” However, he added that the “goal for Pakistan, and also for the US, should be to contain the relationship and keep it from getting worse; because that is not in anyone’s interest.”
He argued that we should not expect these relations to miraculously improve because of one statement, one incident or one visit. He pointed out that “the new closeness between Mr. Trump’s America and Mr. Modi’s India should not be a surprise to anyone and will continued to be fueled further by China’s rise.”
The interview, in Urdu, can be viewed here.
Adil Najam is the inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University.