Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00war, then uh that uh will further constrain
00:00:04that roughly 70% of President Trump in the options that he has. We've seen the
00:00:07depletion of critical munitions worldwide, the
00:00:10US has lost between half and
00:00:13two-thirds of its supplies of
00:00:16critical offensive and uh defensive munitions,
00:00:21slip, and members of Tomahawk missiles, Patriot Pack 3 interceptors,
00:00:24THAAD interceptors. These
00:00:26which which has been a are developments that have an impact not only with regard to this,
00:00:30but also with regard to the strength of the US military deterrent in Asia
00:00:42US can, you know, continue this war
00:00:45at least on the military front
00:00:47indefinitely? Or do you think that within these
00:00:51constraints, no, no, I
00:00:54don't think, I don't think that it's sustainable. I
00:00:58think that it can continue
00:01:00uh the blockade of Iranian ports for some period of
00:01:03time, but I think even
00:01:05an age-old argument in that um will be subject to a balancing test
00:01:08with regard to the impact of that operation on
00:01:12US capabilities in other theaters around the world and
00:01:16in particularly East Asia, um,
00:01:19where the US presence has been weakened
00:01:21significantly by this
00:01:24conflict. There
00:01:26our history, our is not currently a single uh US aircraft carrier strike
00:01:29group, uh deployed
00:01:32there were about six or seven anywhere in the Asia Pacific Theater. Um, that's a problem
00:01:35um, I would say half-heartedly, a uh when most of the American foreign policy
00:01:38establishment remains focused on the long-term strategic
00:01:42competition with China um, and uh
00:01:45spending spending taxpayer funds in a faces and the US and its
00:01:47also been uh declining because of allies face other threats in the Asia Pacific region, such as uh North
00:01:51Korea. Um, this this is a
00:01:55situation that can continue for some time and cannot continue
00:01:58indefinitely. And the options for a significant
00:02:02military
00:02:03me, the sincerity escalation such as the introduction of ground
00:02:06troops are limited by military capabilities
00:02:10and they're limited by lack of public
00:02:14reaction as far as a support. How pushed is Donald Trump knowing
00:02:17that he is losing support for the
00:02:20mid-terms?
00:02:23Well, that's a difficult question,
00:02:26because I I hesitate, I hesitate to try to get
00:02:30into the president's
00:02:32seen. head. Um, if you listen to him at his rallies, um,
00:02:35he doesn't seem to believe that he's losing public support. Uh,
00:02:38clearly he is. Um, unlike in his first
00:02:42term, where he seemed to retain
00:02:45a fairly diverse
00:02:48be. One of set of sources of information.
00:02:51Um, he seems to be
00:02:54um, locked inside a bubble where people largely
00:02:58tell him what he wants to hear.
00:03:00Uh, so um, I don't know how much of a surprise the mid-term
00:03:04elections are going to be for the president. Um, clearly,
00:03:07when he wakes up on the morning of November 4th,
00:03:11um, if uh, the situation is as it seems to
00:03:14be at the moment, um, he's going to be dealing with a very different
00:03:18political reality than the one that he's been uh living with for the past two
00:03:22years. So what if the Republicans lose
00:03:26control of Congress in
00:03:29terms of an electoral setback? Do you think that
00:03:34with sincerity. it could push Trump back to the diplomatic table or do you think
00:03:38that it could escalate the confrontation? There seem to be divided
00:03:41opinions on this, on which side do you, which
00:03:45side would you take?
00:03:48I think in the short term, I think President Trump's
00:03:51instinct will be to rely more on his
00:03:55own authority, on executive power that does not
00:03:58require consultation and authorization from Congress,
00:04:02and that we could see in the short term
00:04:04a move toward
00:04:08escalation. In the long-term, however, he's going to be
00:04:11dependent upon the constraints and the
00:04:15levels of funding that he gets from the Congress.
00:04:18And in terms of the impact of a
00:04:21Republican loss in November, it's going to
00:04:25depend to a large extent on the magnitude of the
00:04:28loss. I think most observers uh now
00:04:32assume that uh the Democrats will take control of the House of
00:04:36Representatives. That's going to have a major impact in
00:04:39terms of funding and in terms of
00:04:43oversight, but right now the
00:04:46betting is that it's more likely than not that the Democrats will also take
00:04:50control of the Senate, uh and that will put concrete
00:04:53constraints on uh President Trump's ability
00:04:57to staff his administration, uh
00:05:00to nominate federal judges.
00:05:03And I think if
00:05:06the magnitude of the
00:05:09electoral loss for the Republicans is significant and
00:05:13uh when combined with the fact that we're entering the last two
00:05:16years, um, of the second term of a presidential administration
00:05:20where President Trump is 80 years old and not
00:05:24eligible to run for re-election,
00:05:27we may see his control
00:05:30of his own party start to
00:05:33the Republican minorities in Congress start to
00:05:37diverge from his policy
00:05:39agenda.
00:05:42Um, is Washington pursuing a
00:05:46coherent endgame with Iran in your opinion? Um, you
00:05:49know, of course, it seems like Iran is maintaining its
00:05:53posture. So no, the
00:05:56simple, the simple answer is no. Washington was
00:05:59not pursuing a coherent start game and it is not pursuing a
00:06:03coherent endgame. I think uh President Trump would
00:06:06like to find um an exit strategy. I think that was the
00:06:10message that he was sending um with the... Islamabad memorandum of
00:06:13understanding, but it's
00:06:17become increasingly unclear what the
00:06:20substantive elements of that strategy would
00:06:23be. There may be some additional
00:06:27um flexibility
00:06:29um in accepting uh unpopular terms, uh
00:06:33after the mid-terms when there's not an immediate electoral consequence.
00:06:37Um, but um as of now, um
00:06:40they've they've tried a military solution, that's
00:06:43failed. Um, they've tried
00:06:48diplomatic route, that's also failed. Um,
00:06:51and right now, the the primary focus
00:06:55seems to be on economic pressure, which has the
00:06:58potential uh to have an impact, but will only work over the long
00:07:02term.
00:07:05US and Iran, do you think that there's a chance that that
00:07:09could also change after the midterm?
00:07:13Yes, you think that, you know, there would be a reaction to
00:07:17whatever happens in the polls. You think that, you know, if
00:07:20if the there is the results are what we expect, there's
00:07:24going to be some kind of
00:07:26relationship between the current administration and Netanyahu,
00:07:29Oh, you mean US and
00:07:33Israel? Um, yes, I
00:07:36think there there will be um,
00:07:40well there there may potentially be a change of administration in Israel as
00:07:44well. So I think before we get to the US
00:07:47mid-terms, we have to see what the results of the
00:07:50Israeli elections are, and what the
00:07:53approach of the new Israeli government,
00:07:57if there is one will
00:08:00the problems that we've been facing in this
00:08:03pre-electoral period is that the pre-electoral
00:08:07periods in Israel and the United States have overlapped, and
00:08:11the interests of uh President Trump and President
00:08:14Netanyahu have diverged. President
00:08:17Trump has had an interest in de-escalating and getting this
00:08:20conflict out of the headlines and easing pressure on world
00:08:24energy markets and an attempt to bring
00:08:28down energy costs and inflation for American
00:08:31voters, whereas Prime Minister Netanyahu has had
00:08:35an interest in escalating and highlighting the direct
00:08:39threat to Israel in an attempt to rally
00:08:43support for his own coalition. Um, after the election
00:08:46uh those pressures will ease, uh
00:08:49so um there there will be an opportunity
00:08:53uh for uh the two sides to try to uh
00:08:56harmonize their approaches again. Uh the problem
00:09:00is that um Prime Minister Netanyahu for a number of
00:09:04reasons uh has done tremendous damage uh to the
00:09:07image of Israel in the United States. And I think we've seen that
00:09:11um play out in the mid-term election campaign.
00:09:15And the incoming Congress, I think is going to be much more skeptical,
00:09:19particularly if Mr. Netanyahu prevails and remains Prime
00:09:22Minister, is going to be much more skeptical of that
00:09:25relationship. Right, fair enough. Please stay with us. I'm going
00:09:29to also introduce Dr. Jared Well, who's a former US diplomat,
00:09:32now joining us. Dr. Jared, when we look at the Trump
00:09:36administration, and of course, its permanent
00:09:40suspension of labor certificate applications
00:09:43for Microsoft, several major IT
00:09:46firms, while launching investigations into
00:09:50nine universities, what does this tell us about
00:09:53the administration's broader immigration strategy? And you
00:09:57know, how far could this crackdown really go in your
00:10:01opinion? Well, I think we have to look at the crackdown as what
00:10:05we're seeing in terms of larger US foreign policy in general. I
00:10:08would say this crackdown relates to economic
00:10:11nationalism, where President Trump is trying to move forward what
00:10:15what he sees as uh America First agenda, which is
00:10:18prioritizing Americans first. That
00:10:22that largely said, um, there still
00:10:25hasn't been necessarily a correlation to show that uh that these number of
00:10:29Microsoft workers are taking American jobs. This is something the administration hasn't yet
00:10:33proven. Um, but but more or less, I think one of the larger implications
00:10:37could be is that employers
00:10:41and as well as those seeking employment in the United States would be
00:10:44dissuaded from attracting any kind of international talent
00:10:48to the United States,
00:10:51um
00:10:53huge um advantage to the United States for for many, many decades
00:10:57now. Um, so I think that's a major risk to to what's happening
00:11:01on the part of the Trump
00:11:02administration.
00:11:05Vice President JD Vance has also accused
00:11:08Microsoft of benefiting from thousands of H1
00:11:12visas, um, green cards, while of course laying off
00:11:16American workers. How credible is the
00:11:19administration's argument that skilled workforce immigration
00:11:22programs are being used
00:11:25at the expense of US employees? Isn't it
00:11:30a sense? It
00:11:32is an age-old argument, and again, as I just said in my previous comment, that
00:11:36this is something that the administration hasn't actually proven in any
00:11:39causation between the number of actual uh
00:11:43green card workers or those who come on visas and actually and Microsoft
00:11:47and other companies laying Americans off.
00:11:49Another another key question would be uh the the the level of
00:11:53skill set. I mean, we we that currently in the United States, we we
00:11:56have a disenrollment in universities uh
00:11:59across the country as the cost of um the cost
00:12:03of um universities have skyrocketed, in addition to the job
00:12:07market even uh in in technological skills have have
00:12:12the growth of AI. So I think, you know, this could be
00:12:16a major concern moving forward uh for
00:12:19for uh American companies as they seek to look for tech
00:12:23talent.
00:12:25Microsoft says that about 80% of its H1
00:12:29B applications last physical year involved extending or
00:12:33changing the status of existing employees. Do you think that this
00:12:36complicates the administration's claim that companies are using
00:12:40these programs to replace American workers if they
00:12:43only, you know, changing them for example,
00:12:47extending them or changing the status?
00:12:50Well, again, I think it comes back to the idea that that facts matter here. In this
00:12:54particular instance, Microsoft is is making the case
00:12:58that uh that this isn't actually true, that they're just renewing visas. So they're making
00:13:01that clear distinction between renewing visas and bringing people back
00:13:05into uh to to work versus bringing
00:13:09people to work in the United States. So, um, so I
00:13:12definitely think it it complicates the
00:13:15the narrative from from the current administration.
00:13:17Definitely.
00:13:19But it but does it also sort of allow them to
00:13:23to justify what what is happening as far as, you know,
00:13:27Microsoft and these technological companies are
00:13:29concerned? No, I think I think it doesn't. It doesn't justify
00:13:33that. Fair enough. Let me come back. I think it doesn't justify
00:13:37this. I'm sorry. Come back. Let let me just come back to.
00:13:41I'm also going to go to Paul Frit.
00:13:44Paul, when we look at what what is being said, in your
00:13:47opinion, this argument versus the fact that
00:13:51it's impacting us citizens, how do you credit this situation
00:13:56um when we look at this crackdown?
00:13:59Well, I think, um, as as my colleague
00:14:03said, we see it as a part of a broader
00:14:06crackdown on immigration from all
00:14:09sources. Um, that is not
00:14:12particularly data driven. Um,
00:14:16there there is no evidence for the notion
00:14:20that the H1B
00:14:22program is diverting, is um, is is displacing
00:14:26large numbers of uh US-born um tech
00:14:30workers. Um, and in fact, uh this has been um
00:14:33a major source of strength to the US economy has been the ability to
00:14:37attract um and integrate and reward um
00:14:41talent from around the world. Um,
00:14:43the uh President Trump a couple of weeks ago hosted
00:14:47uh Xi Jinping um in Washington and he hosted a state
00:14:51dinner uh that included uh CEOs
00:14:54of uh tech companies, and
00:14:5780 to 90% of them were foreign born, were immigrants who
00:15:01themselves had uh come to the country through the
00:15:04H1B program. Um, foreign born talent uh has
00:15:08been a source of US leadership on uh on
00:15:11AI and and other uh cutting-edge uh
00:15:14tech sectors. Uh so um
00:15:18this uh approach, um, not only uh cracking down on
00:15:22H1Bs, but also on various forms of student visas, on
00:15:25F1s, on J1s, on cutting back research
00:15:29funds from the federal government, it all
00:15:32is going to have a very
00:15:35harmful effect on the US economy. And in the case of
00:15:38H1Bs, given the fact
00:15:42them come from India, it's going to become an
00:15:45irritant in that bilateral relationship as
00:15:47well. Fair enough. I know Dr. Jarod that you have
00:15:51limited time, but very quickly, the administration is also
00:15:55investigating nine leading universities, including Harvard,
00:15:59Yale, and Stanford over this
00:16:02alleged visa abuse and concerns about, of course, foreign
00:16:05influence as far as research particularly is concerned.
00:16:09Where should the government draw the line in your opinion between
00:16:13legitimate oversight and political interference in these
00:16:16cases? As far as particularly higher education
00:16:20is concerned. Well, I think that's an excellent question, and I
00:16:24think having been a former USAID, former
00:16:28foreign service officer who's managed US government funds, and also has been in also been in
00:16:32academia, I think it's particularly important to note that the government does have the right and we
00:16:36should be on the hook for how we spend US tax dollars. However, on the
00:16:39other side of that, there is such a notion in this country, and this is something that people come from all over the
00:16:43world to study here, is that we have academic freedom as which the
00:16:46government um doesn't interfere in what we can research,
00:16:49especially um on certain topics that that may be
00:16:52considered sensitive. Um, but this isn't the case. This this is it's a
00:16:56growing concern that the administration is trying to impact or or
00:17:00restrict what what can be funded or researched, again
00:17:04understanding that there there there are restrictions. How we can spend
00:17:08US taxpayer funds. But um, various critics
00:17:11have noted that there's this kind of dubious kind of connection to what the administration
00:17:15says, uh, the administration claims uh
00:17:18may infringe upon um
00:17:23responsible way, and also uh letting academics and student researchers
00:17:27have uh political freedom or or or have uh free academic
00:17:30freedom to be able to write about or do research on on these different
00:17:34topics. So I think we're seeing we're seeing something that that that has
00:17:37largely un unprecedented um here in the in in the United
00:17:41States where universities who um rely
00:17:45especially for certain research programs larger on federal funding either
00:17:48have to comply or they have to stop research, which is a major
00:17:51disadvantage to um the the American people. You one
00:17:55other aspect to add to this part is that, you know, lest we forget that
00:17:59American universities, um, and and those who come to study here are
00:18:02are it's a part of US soft power. Um, US
00:18:06American education as it's a huge part of that and those who are educated
00:18:10in the United States, um they when they finish their education,
00:18:13they go back to their native countries, um and they take that experience and they take living in
00:18:17the United States and they take those relationships with them. Um, and
00:18:21so when when we malign that relationship, that we're maligning these
00:18:24experiences, uh we're really doing long-term harm to American
00:18:28interest and to the American people
00:19:38came to the meeting. We haven't been able to hold a
00:19:42cabinet meeting for some time now. There
00:19:44are two reasons for this. I had to go to America for a
00:19:48UN session, and I was a bit busy
00:19:52there, and then I had some other engagements
00:19:55too.
00:19:58So, during this time, some important events took place
00:20:02that I would like to bring
00:20:03to your attention. First of all,
00:20:37the MD praised Pakistan for its efforts
00:20:41in these circumstances, as a team, to stabilize
00:20:45the economy. I consider
00:20:49these words as an acknowledgment
00:21:22that we all, including the political
00:21:26leadership and military leadership,
00:21:28worked day and night
00:21:32and brought a physical
00:21:35discipline to Pakistan
00:21:38that was long
00:21:40overdue.
00:21:43We brought in the structural
00:21:47changes that were due.
00:21:50But it's an old wound,
00:21:53an 80-year-old burden.
00:21:56You can't cover that distance overnight.
00:22:00But if we work day and night,
00:22:03Insha'Allah, we will reach our destination.
00:22:05In this regard, when I came to
00:22:09London, the CEO of the London Stock Exchange invited
00:22:13me. After the ceremony that you see every day
00:22:16on TV in New York, London, and Japan,
00:22:22delegations of
00:22:25top-class bankers during the opening ceremony of the Stock Exchange,
00:22:28including Barclays Bank. Various
00:22:31banks came, including Citi Bank
00:22:34and JP Morgan.
00:22:37And they said in various
00:22:40words, but one thing they said was, "Prime Minister,
00:22:44the economic reforms
00:22:47you have brought in Pakistan
00:23:20is being
00:23:22And in recent months,
00:23:25I have met many heads of state and international
00:23:29delegations. Not a single
00:23:32one of them started the conversation
00:23:34without first congratulating me and saying, "We
00:23:38highly appreciate Pakistan's diplomacy.
00:23:42We are
00:23:44well aware of it, and we are grateful to you for playing a big
00:23:48role in the ceasefire." The current situation
00:23:52in this regard is before you.
00:23:55Unfortunately, things got worse again
00:23:59and escalated. From the Strait of Hormuz, they
00:24:03went to Bab-el-Mandeb. There, the situation got even
00:24:06worse. So, Pakistan
00:24:09is still playing its role
00:24:12with full effort and sincerity. The rest is in
00:24:16Allah's hands. Other brotherly countries
00:24:20are fully contributing
00:24:24And today, I want to say
00:24:27again,
00:24:28please
00:24:33register this point that in this whole diplomacy,
00:24:36Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has a pivotal role. There is no
00:24:40doubt about it. Absolutely. Deputy Prime Minister
00:24:44has made a great effort. Mohsin Naqvi is sitting here. He has made efforts regarding
00:24:47Iran. So, this is a great
00:25:20thing that even strangers cannot imagine
00:25:23such a thing.
00:25:27It became a story of destruction. There were ruins when
00:25:30we came into government. I don't
00:25:33want to boast. The entire
00:25:36team, the concerned ministers,
00:25:40secretaries, including Madam Shehza
00:25:43Khawaja, played a big role, and her secretary,
00:25:47Mr. Jiva, and gradually the Minister of Finance.
00:25:55Everyone worked together on this, but I think
00:25:58in my life, many big projects came that troubled
00:26:02me a lot. But this was one of those
00:26:05projects that caused a lot of weakness and pain,
00:26:08but Alhamdulillah, it is now complete, and
00:26:12Insha'Allah, we will now replicate it across
00:26:16Pakistan. I have told Ahsan Iqbal that he should
00:26:20be ready to build similar ones in Karachi,
00:26:24Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, and other places,
00:26:27and in this way, not thousands, not lakhs, but
00:26:30crores of young boys and girls will get a start
00:27:09brotherly country of
00:27:11Pakistan
00:27:14and an extremely trusted friend.
00:27:18Just as China is an extremely trusted friend of Pakistan,
00:27:21Saudi Arabia is an extremely trusted friend of
00:27:24Pakistan. Throughout
00:27:28relations with them have been extremely affectionate.
00:27:33And you and some of the senior people sitting
00:27:37here are witnesses to how
00:27:40at various times the Saudi royal
00:27:44family, the Saudi government, and the Saudi people
00:27:47have always supported Pakistan.
00:27:50We, with full caution, played
00:27:53our role as a mediator.
00:27:56We have a brotherly country,
00:27:59Iran, which is our neighboring country. And believe
00:28:05and relationship with Iran have grown
00:28:09so much in these months during this government,
00:28:13I don't remember any other time like
00:28:16this. And this journey
00:28:20continues. The Deputy Prime Minister
00:28:22keeps talking to Mr. Rakesh. Mohsin Naqvi
00:28:26talks to his counterpart, they visit. The Field Marshal himself has made
00:28:30visits. He stays in contact. So, our only goal
00:28:34is to establish peace in the region.
00:28:37But after the Strait of Hormuz, the bloody game
00:28:40that is being played in Bab-el-Mandeb
00:28:43is extremely regrettable. And for this,
00:28:47Pakistan's relationship with Saudi Arabia, as I
00:28:50mentioned, is not 80
00:28:53years old, but centuries old, based
00:28:56on brotherhood, religion, and fraternity.
00:29:00And now Pakistan
00:29:03is now connected, and in this we have
00:29:07bilateral agreements,
00:29:10trilateral agreements regarding defense, so I
00:29:13believe that in this regard, what the Houthi are
00:29:17doing is extremely regrettable.
00:29:21No matter how much it is condemned, it is not enough. Pakistan has
00:29:24repeatedly said, even today, that
00:29:28this aggression against Saudi Arabia by the Houthis
00:29:32has no justification. A few weeks
00:29:35ago, there was a drone over Makkah, which they
00:29:39successfully negotiated.
00:29:42So who? I mean, from Kuala Lumpur
00:29:45to the West,
00:29:48you can go. So
00:29:51the entire Muslim Ummah is
00:29:54Makkah, Baitullah, Baitullah, which is the house
00:29:58of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Madinah Munawwarah. Which Muslim is
00:30:33ready and especially the sanctity of Madinah Munawwarah and Makkah
00:30:37and its protection is the responsibility of
00:30:41billions of Muslims around the world. So I
00:30:45believe that in this regard, this is a red
00:30:48line. We all pray to Allah Almighty that
00:30:52this matter will be resolved peacefully, otherwise
00:30:55Pakistan will always stand with its
00:30:58Saudi brothers and sisters.