'Pakistan not in position to deprive itself of any forum': PPP's Bilawal Bhutto

Taking a jibe at the Imran Khan government, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said that Pakistan should not have skipped the US-hosted Summit For Democracy.

Pakistan, China's all-weather ally, last week had turned down US' invitation to take part in the Summit for Democracy. The US had extended invitations to more than a hundred countries for the summit but China and some other countries were left out.

Pakistan thanked the US for the invitation but said that it would engage with the country on a wide range of issues "at an opportune time in the future", Pakistan Foreign Office had said in a statement.

Pakistan did not attend the summit after earlier issuing a vague statement which said that Islamabad would like to engage with Washington on the issue of democracy "at an opportune time in the future".

Answering a question from a reporter while addressing a press begging in Karachi, PPP Chairman on Monday said that Pakistan was not in a position to "deprive" itself of any forum, Dawn newspaper reported.

"Even if an ally raises objections, we can raise their views and our views [at the forum] but we should never cede space." Bilawal said that in his opinion, this was a "mistake" at a foreign policy level.

A few days after declining the US' invite for the democracy summit, the top leadership in Pakistan on Saturday had said that country values its relationship with the United States and was committed to expanding it in all spheres, particularly in the economic dimension.

This message was conveyed in a meeting with a delegation of US senators. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa separately met the US lawmakers on Saturday.

Pakistan Prime Minister called on the US to play its due role in maintaining peace and stability in the region. He said that a deeper and stronger partnership between the two countries was mutually beneficial and critical for the region's peace, security and prosperity.

( With inputs from ANI )