Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The United States has avoided making any comment on the Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto calling the prime minister Narendra Modi a “butcher of Gujarat” because of its “multifaceted relationship” with both the countries.
“We have a global strategic partnership with India. I have also spoken about the deep partnership we have with Pakistan. These relationships in our mind are not zero-sum. We do not view them in relation to one another,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday when asked about the recent outburst of Bhutto against Modi at an United Nations’ conference in New York.
Relations between India and Pakistan have often been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019. But the US besides offering “mediatorship” to resolve the disputes has preferred to stay neutral.
“US shares multifaceted relationships with India and Pakistan and does not want to see a “war of words” but a constructive dialogue between the two nations for the betterment of their people,” Price said. Price said each of these relationships is indispensable to the US and to the promotion and pursuit of the shared goals that the US has with India and Pakistan. “The fact that we have partnerships with both countries leaves us not wanting to see a war of words between India and Pakistan. We would like to see a constructive dialogue between India and Pakistan. We think that is for the betterment of the Pakistani and Indian people. There is much work that we can do together bilaterally,” Price said in response to the question.
“There are differences that, of course, need to be addressed between India and Pakistan. The United States stands ready to assist as a partner to both,” he asserted. “The US has a global strategic partnership with India. These relationships stand on their own; it is not zero-sum.
Pakistan foreign minister Bhutto-Zardari last week resorted to a personal attack on Prime Minister Modi and slammed the RSS after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the UN Security Council that the “contemporary epicentre of terrorism” remains very much active and called for collective action to tackle them.
Meanwhile, Bhutto urged the world to continue to help Pakistan recover from devastating floods ahead of a United Nations conference next month to mobilize funding. Pakistan is facing an economic crisis with reserves covering one month of imports, a dollar shortage and a delay in its loan program with the International Monetary Fund. Investors are still concerned about the nation’s ability of its debt, with long-term dollar bonds continuing to trade at distressed levels despite the payment of a $1 billion bond this month.
“We find ourselves in this incredibly difficult position where we’re trying to manage our macroeconomic indicators with the IMF and provide the imminent relief for the people that is still necessary now in Pakistan, and plan forward for reconstruction and rehabilitation,” the Paksitan foreign minister said. “Unfortunately, the cameras have gone, the attention has disappeared, but there are still floodwaters in many areas of my country.”
Pakistan’s unprecedented floods in the summer killed more than 1,700 people, inundated third of the nation and cut the nation’s growth by half. The floods have left about $32 billion in damages and losses to the nation’s economy.
The United Nations said the global community hasn’t provided enough funds after the devastating floods in Pakistan and that may lead to the suspension of its food support program next month. The UN and Pakistan’s joint appeal garnered only about 30% of the $816 million funds requested, according to Julien Harneis, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan.
Pakistan has seen a delay in its latest IMF loan tranche amid prolonged discussions with the global body, which has asked for details on how much the nation will be spending this year for rehabilitation after the devastating floods. The IMF indicated that talks have been productive to revise the macroeconomic outlook after the floods, resident representative in Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said in a statement this month.
