United States President Joe Biden deemed Pakistan one of the most dangerous nations in the world. The White House statement quoted the president’s address at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception on 14 October.
Biden said, “What I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world, Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
The US president made the comments at the reception while talking about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and how it has impacted the globe. He also spoke about Washington’s ties with other countries.
It is pertinent to note here that Biden’s comment surfaced almost three weeks since the US and Pakistan materialised a defence deal on the F-16 fleet. On September 26, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said it was Washington’s responsibility and obligation to help provide military supplies ‘to whoever’ required them for military sustenance.
“To be very clear, this is a sustainment programme for F-16s that Pakistan has long had. These are old planes and systems that they already have. We have a responsibility and obligation to whoever we provide military supplies to maintain and sustain them. Pakistan’s programme bolsters its capability to fight terror and terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan or from the region,” Blinken had said.
It may be noted that Blinken was posed a question pertaining to the F-16 deal with Pakistan after Indian foreign affairs minister S Jaishankar questioned the ulterior motive of the pact.
Voicing his doubts about the merits of US-Pakistan bilateral ties, Jaishankar had said, “…Very honestly, it’s a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving American interests. So, it’s really for the US today to reflect on what the merits are of this relationship (US-Pakistan ties) and what they get by it.”
Shortly after Jaishankar approached the US-Pakistan F-16 deal with a view, Pakistan was quick to justify it. Issuing a statement, Islamabad said, “Responding to media questions about unwarranted remarks by the Indian Minister for External Affairs, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has a longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States.”
“India is strongly urged to respect basic norms of inter-state relations and refrain from commenting on the bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan. India also needs serious introspection of its diplomatic conduct,” Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The comment on Pakistan comes at a time when Islamabad may be ejected from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global financial watchdog. Pakistan has been listed under the category owing to deficiencies in counter-terror funding and anti-money laundering policies.
The anti-terror funding laws failed to comply with FATF standards, thus, Pakistan has been named on the ‘grey list’ since June 2018.
