Pakistanis Concerned Bush Could Move Closer To India
KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistani political leaders on Wednesday said a George W. Bush election victory could shift Washington closer to nuclear rival India, but otherwise saw little impact on South Asia.
Most party leaders here said they saw no major differences between Republican Bush and Democrat Al Gore, especially in their foreign policies and the perceived tilt in U.S. allegiances away from Pakistan toward India.
"There will be no change in policy towards Pakistan even if Bush wins," said Raja Zafarul Haq, a leader of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML).
"I don't see any major change or tilt towards Pakistan because individuals do not matter in U.S. policies, which are made by institutions."
Asked a few months ago who was the leader of Pakistan, Bush replied "the general," apparently unaware of General Pervez Musharraf's name.
Raza Rabbani, a central leader of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said the personality of the president was irrelevant to U.S. foreign policy.
"They all follow U.S. security requirements and national as well as political interest," he said.
"But I don't think the Republicans will make any tilt back towards Pakistan because they cannot ignore the huge Indian market."
Outgoing U.S. President Bill Clinton visited India for five days and Pakistan for just a few hours in March, in what was seen here as a snub to the military regime which grew out of a coup last year.
Jamaat-i-Islami party leader Ghafoor Ahmed said the "Clinton administration was anti-Muslim" and he had hoped for a Republican victory.
"I think there will be some change in policy toward Muslims if Bush wins," he said.
There has been no official reaction from the military government.
