Trump not to ban Muslim immigrants,says US research fellow

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a great initiative and China is a great friend, but we need to revisit the terms of engagement with the Chinese government and not to accept every condition blindly.

This piece of advice came from Abdullah Khurram, fellow scholar at the John Hopkins University, US, on Monday. He had been invited to deliver a lecture, entitled ‘International order in the post-US elections scenario: implications for Pakistan’, organised by the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi, at its council room.

Khurram said Pakistan must offer vast employment opportunities to its labour class in CPEC projects. He claimed that US-Iran ties were expected to worsen during Trump’s tenure.

“Trump will likely to sideline European markets which are already in decline due to BREXIT. Pakistan’s security situation has improved much, but it has serious threats with regards to ISIS uprising and its expansion in different countries. America gives working visas to 85,000 foreigners in which majority are Indians and Trump has called for declining their numbers.”

He ruled out Trump’s threat of banning Muslim immigrants, saying that Trump would not ban Muslim immigrants since it would have serious global backlash and the US had its interests in the Muslim world.

However, he mentioned that Trump’s cabinet was quite balanced and he knew how to use his men accordingly.

He stated that Pakistan played a pivotal role in mediating and establishing relations between the US and China during the 1970s and now it had a great chance of being the middle man or the prime mediator between the US and China in the near future, since the relations between both the countries are worsening.

Khurram observed that apart from the super powers, various middle powers, including Turkey and Australia, were emerging and Pakistan must use diplomatic channels to maintain cordial relations with such states. “Narendra Modi gets a warm welcome in the United States and the UN because of successful Indian foreign policy. Donald Trump is a successful businessman and could perform well.”

Khurram said the US-Russia relations were expected to boost further due to Trump but could experience a sudden U-turn since Russian policies towards the US would not change and both of them would not be able to negotiate much on mutual terms.

He maintained that for the first time in the Indian diplomatic history, India had left its non-aligned status and had joined pro-United States bloc.

He said many Muslims in America supported Donald Trump with the notion that he was not a hypocrite like others and it was comparatively easy to tackle him as he showed his cards. Responding to a question, he said former president Asif Ali Zardari’s participation in Trump’s oath-taking was a good and positive sign.

The dean faculty of social sciences, KU, Professor Dr Moonis Ahmar, in his concluding remarks, observed that Trump could be impeached if he continued taking hard lines on American policies and his own party could support the impeachment. He noted that Trump should revisit his promise of shifting the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying that it could evoke a serious reaction from Muslim countries.  

”Trump would be forced to revisit his election campaign claims. The Chinese exports and economy is on a decline and America could take full advantage of that.”