Pakistan does not have financial independence and its foreign policy is not free from the US influence, said the country’s National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf .

“When we cannot [fulfil] the demands, we seek foreign loans. When you procure loans, your economic sovereignty is compromised,” Geo News quoted Yusuf as saying on Monday.

Further, Yusuf lamented that whenever a country seeks a loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF) or any other foreign organization, the nation compromises its economic sovereignty with such demands from global bodies.

“It affects a country’s foreign policy,” said Yusuf, stressing that when foreign policy is affected, you cannot run the affairs as they would be in an ideal situation.

Yusuf noted that when a country is dependent on international money lenders, it cannot allocate resources for human welfare or traditional security — armed forces and internal security, according to Geo News.

The NSA also emphasised that a country cannot have financial independence till it fulfils all local demands through its own resources.

With regard to the foreign policy, Yusuf said, “It is still not [free from US influence] and I doubt that there is any country which is free from it.”

Yusuf is set to visit Kabul in a few weeks. He will head a senior delegation of Pakistani officials during his Kabul visit for further engagement with the Afghan government on all “assistance-related” prospects. His visit comes a few weeks after the Taliban prevented the Pakistan Army from fencing the border with Afghanistan as the two countries have issues over the Durand Line.