In Islamabad, members of the public advice caution no matter which way US vote swings

ISLAMABAD: Some members of the public in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad said on Thursday they hoped for Democrat Joe Biden to win the US presidential race while others adviced caution, saying any US leader would protect the country’s own interests and Pakistan needed to prepare to work with whoever won.
Election officials are tallying votes in a handful of states that will determine the outcome.
As Biden has edged closer to victory, President Donald Trump has alleged fraud without providing evidence, filed lawsuits and called for recounts in a race yet to be decided two days after polls closed.
Pakistan is of huge strategic importance to the US and has remained a main ally as the US has sought to defeat al Qaeda and cripple the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
Washington also depends on Pakistan to supply its forces in Afghanistan, but ties have been strained by allegations time and again that Pakistan offers safe havens to the Afghan Taliban, which Islamabad denies.
In recent months, Pakistan has played a behind-the-scenes role in supporting peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including facilitating travel to negotiations, and is seen as a key player in Washington’s plans to end its longest war.
“I’m all for Biden,” Shakeel Ahmed, an IT professional in Islamabad, told Arab News. “He is a mature and far-sighted politician and I think his policies will help end decades-old conflicts, like in Afghanistan, through negotiations.” 
However, he said the US administration, irrespective of who became president, would pursue its own foreign policy interests and Pakistan needed to prepare to work with whoever won the election.
“Every country protects its interests,” Ahmed said.
Mohammad Yaqub, a shopkeeper in Islamabad, said a Trump defeat would be “bad” for other populist governments and for strongmen like Trump, with scant concern for human rights and constitutional rule, who had come to power around the world in recent years.
“People like their leaders to be expressive and sensitive to public issues and that’s why they had elected Trump in the US and [Prime Minister] Imran Khan in Pakistan,” Yaqub said.
Khan and Trump met in Washington last year, resolving to reset ties.
Yaqub said Khan had developed ‘good chemistry’ with Trump on many issues, including Afghanistan, and therefore his reelection would be beneficial for Pakistan.
But Arshad Haider, an economics student, was skeptical a new president would change Pakistan’s complicated relationship with the US.
“The US has always used and cheated us,” he said, adding that Pakistan needed to strengthen its economy and defence systems by boosting exports and industrial production instead of always looking to the US for financial aid and military support.
“We should set our house in order to progress,” Haider said, “instead of pinning out hopes on the US elections and US president.”