Country is not available in the list while setting up.

My country, Pakistan, is not available in the list of countries, and I had a few questions.

Which country should I set it too? Everyone suggests setting it to the US, but a friend of mine said that if I set it to US, I'll be matched with people from America which would be pretty slow. He suggested set it to UAE which would provide a better connection.

I'll be using cards to add money to my account so will there be any compatibility issue that I should be aware of?

I helped my cousin set up his PS account a while ago, and he had to provide a phone number. Is there any way to use my own number, or will it have to be a number from the country I set it to?