Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Irfan Siddiqui on Saturday warned that the US runs the risk of alienating allies like the European Union if President Donald Trump continues to treat them the same way he did visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US president and his Ukrainian counterpart were involved in an acrid spat when the latter visited the White House on Friday, with Trump saying Zelensky was “not thankful” for US support amid the three-year-long war with Russia and Vice President JD Vance accusing Zelensky of being “disrespectful”.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump said. “You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country.”
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Speaking on the mediaNewsTV programme ‘Doosra Rukh’ on Saturday, the senator said that Trump is acting without considering the consequences because it is his final term in office.
“He is not concerned about votes, so he is doing whatever he wishes, but this behaviour is not being accepted on the world stage,” Siddiqui expressed.
Siddiqui added that Trump’s row with Zelensky demonstrates a great deal about America’s attitude towards its allies.
“If you look at their (Trump and Zelensky’s) conversation, you get the sense that if America can openly humiliate one of its allies, one it has supported and armed for years,” he said. “Other countries might no longer be able to trust the US.
“Under Trump’s leadership, the US is rapidly headed in a direction that will leave it completely isolated,” the senator added, warning that America may alienate the EU and worsen already frosty relations with China.
Siddiqui warned that the outcome would be “the EU, China and other countries coming together” while the US remains isolated.
‘You cannot present options to the PTI’
Discussing the recently abandoned talks between the government and the PTI, Siddiqui said that it was impossible to present options during negotiations because “they did not assess them in any forum or through any sort of”.
“The PTI’s decisions come straight from the lips of Imran Khan,” Siddiqui said. “I cannot say what he is thinking, but the PTI did not know what they were doing until they received instructions from their leader.
“When Imran ordered ‘no more talks’, the PTI committee was completely caught off guard,” he added.“
The senator added that the party is suggesting alliances while simultaneously calling for civil disobedience, sending letters and publishing “explosive” articles in Time magazine. “They (the PTI) are impossible to predict,” he expressed.
When asked if the PTI wanted to continue negotiations despite Imran’s instructions, Siddiqui responded in the affirmative. “I remember [PTI Chairman] Gohar Ali Khan went to see Imran, and when he returned, there were still three or four days left before the deadline to meet their demands. Still, they said no more talks.”
Siddiqui added that neither committee was informed about the decision to abandon talks by either Imran or Gohar. “Their decision-making process is very strange … they never approached any forum,” he said.
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