ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told an international publication in an interview published early Tuesday his country was willing to help the United States and China iron out their differences if the two global powers wanted Pakistan to play a diplomatic role between them.

Pakistan was instrumental in arranging a seven-day visit of former US president Richard Nixon to Beijing in 1972 where the American leader held a meeting with Mao Zedong. The visit allowed the two countries to normalize their relations and marked the beginning of their modern relationship.

In recent years, however, the ties between the two countries have been strained, making experts of international politics warn of a potentially devastating conflict as China strives to carve out a bigger political and economic space for itself on the world stage.

“Pakistan has traditionally maintained good relations with China and the United States,” the prime minister told Newsweek in an exclusive interview, adding: “If China and the US so desire, Pakistan would be happy to play a positive role to bridge their differences, as we had done in the past.”

He maintained it was his country’s considered view that “cooperation, not confrontation, should be the main driver of international relations.”

“The world can ill-afford descent into another era of Cold War or bloc politics,” he added. “I believe polarization would have serious consequences for the global economy afflicted by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis. The developing countries, like Pakistan, are already suffering from external shocks to their socio-economic well-being, and do not desire aggravation of these challenges induced by major power rivalry.”

The prime minister also told the American publication Pakistan was striving to have “friendly relations with all major powers of the world, including Russia.”

Asked about the daunting challenges faced by his country after former prime minister Imran Khan was driven out of power in a no-trust vote, Sharif said his administration took the reins of power through a constitutional process and was well placed to address these issues since it was “truly national in nature.”

He also spoke about the regional problems since the departure of international forces from Afghanistan in August last year, saying the world community should continue to engage with the war-torn country and unfreeze its financial assets in view of Afghanistan’s precarious humanitarian and economic situation.

“We will continue to impress upon the Interim Afghan Government the importance of taking demonstrable actions on its commitments including those relating to inclusivity, respect for human rights of all Afghans, including girls’ education, and effective counter-terrorism action,” he added.