US President Joe Biden widened the rift between Washington and Islamabad recently calling Pakistan “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion” at a Democratic Party reception in Los Angeles. These comments were put forth during Biden’s verbal analysis of the geopolitical situation that has been worsening due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as Sino-American relations at the moment.
Later on, as expected, the State Department of the United States backtracked from the President's remarks stating that the country is confident that Pakistan can secure its nukes. The statement was issued by spokesperson Vedant Patel as Pakistan had summoned the U.S. envoy to seek a clarification of Biden's remarks.
Joe Biden's remarks though have sparked strong reactions from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. He stated, “I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping than any person in… any head of state in America… in the world. I spent over – they keep count of it – 78 hours’ worth. Of that, 68 were in person, over the last 10 years, because Barack knew that he couldn’t be dealing with a Vice President. And so, he assigned me. I’ve travelled 17,000 miles with him" and then continued to say, “This is a guy who understands what he wants but has an enormous, enormous array of problems. How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
The response from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif was almost a predictable one. “Let me reiterate unequivocally”, he tweeted, “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and we are proud that our nuclear assets have the best safeguards as per IAEA requirements. We take these safety measures with the utmost seriousness. Let no one have any doubts.”
He further vouched for this sentiment in a separate press release, and was quoted by the Prime Minister’s Office saying, “ Over the past decades, Pakistan has proven to be a most responsible nuclear state, wherein its nuclear programme is managed through a technically sound and foolproof command and control system”. Furthermore, he wished for friendlier relations with Washington during times like these, saying it would be Islamabad’s “sincere desire to cooperate with the US to promote regional peace and security.”
Biden’s comments caused a stir throughout Pakistan, as former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, too took to Twitter in solidarity and asked, “Unlike the US, which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression, especially post-nuclearisation?” He also asked, “On what info has @POTUS reached this unwarranted conclusion on our nuclear capability when, having been PM, I know we have one of the most secure nuclear command & control systems?”
Khan continued his questioning, taking this opportunity to talk about the current government: “Equally imp, this Biden statement shows the total failure of Imported govt's foreign policy & its claims of ‘reset of relations with US’? Is this the ‘reset’? This govt has broken all records for incompetence”, noting that Biden’s comments come after Pakistan’s recent attempt at resetting and strengthening US-Pak ties; sending over its top general Asif Bajwa and its foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto to Washington. The Biden administration also recently okayed a refurbishing package for one of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons delivery options, the F-16s.
The US is wary of Pakistan’s close partnership with China which even though has been a blow-hot-blow-cold tie-up, has stood steady across timelines. It is little wonder then that the US wishes to let Pakistan know from time-to-time that it is not happy with the warmth in its Chinese ties and that it is time Pakistan chooses its long-term ally for good.
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