Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is in a piquant situation: ever since US President Joe Biden spoke to Indian PM Narendra Modi in April, the Pakistan PM is keenly waiting for a call from the White House.
Why the Pakistan PM has failed to get a call even from Modi, and Imran has publicly admitted it time and again.
But Biden’s case is different. Six and a half months after he took oath as the US President in January 2021, Biden has still kept Khan guessing. On April 21, however, the new US President did speak with Modi.
Not only Imran, his National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf is also upset with how the US is cold-shouldering Pakistan, according to media reports.
In a recent interview to Financial Times, he complained about how Biden did not call up Imran Khan so far, saying “The US President hasn’t spoken to the PM of such an important country.”
In 2004, when the US sought Pakistan’s commitment to stabilize Afghanistan, then-President George W Bush had made Islamabad a major non-NATO ally of America. Billions of dollars flowed into the country like the US with Pakistan’s help focused on rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan.
However, by the time Donald Trump was elected as US President in 2017, the relationship had soured. Trump cut off military assistance worth USD 2 billion and in late December 2017 tweeted, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
The FT quoted Yusuf as saying that “If a phone call is a concession, if a security relationship is a concession, Pakistan has options,” Yusuf, possibly reflecting the Pakistan establishment’s frustration with US cold-shouldering, was hinting at Islamabad’s good relations and options with ‘all-weather’ friend China.
Contrast this with what happened 60 years ago. In July 1961, US President John F. Kennedy had gone all out to woo Pakistan President Ayub Khan to ensure his continued cooperation against China. However, as soon as President Kennedy promised an economically beneficial and closer relationship with India, an irate Khan ordered a shutdown of the US covert operations in Tibet out of Pakistan.
Six decades later, another Democrat President of the US seems to be in a similar situation and hurting sentiments.