Islamabad not asked to choose between Beijing, Washington: US

Welcoming the staff-level pact between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a crucial $3 billion stand-by arrangement, the United States said on Wednesday that it does not expect the former to choose between the US and the People's Republic of China.

“Our support for Pakistan’s economic success is unwavering,” assured US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller during his daily press briefing in Washington.

He was replying to a question regarding America’s role in securing the $3b package for Pakistan.

“We will continue to engage with Pakistan through technical engagements and continue to strengthen our trade and investment ties, all of which are priorities for our bilateral relationship,” said Miller, addressing the reporter of a private Pakistani television channel, who had asked the question.

Read Khar backs ‘balanced’ ties with the West, China

“We believe Pakistan has a lot of hard work ahead to be on a long-term, sustainable, path to economic recovery and prosperity but we will continue to stand by them through that process,” added Miller.

When asked about a recent interview of Federal State for Foreign Affairs Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, wherein she said that Islamabad has no appetite to pick a side amid the growing global rivalry between Washington and Beijing, Miller said that the US does not ask nations to make such a choice.

In an interview with POLITICO, an American news website, Khar had expressed Islamabad’s concerns about the repercussions of an all-out rupture between the US and China. This would present Pakistan with an unpalatable binary strategic choice, she had feared.

“We are highly threatened by this notion of splitting the world into two blocs,” she said. “We are very concerned about this decoupling…Anything that splits the world further.”

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Assuaging concerns regarding such a choice posed by the US, Miller said: “The US does not ask Pakistan or any other country to choose between the US and the People’s Republic of China, or to choose between the US and any other country”.

“Our relations with Pakistan [were] built on our close people-to-people ties and we will continue to seek ways to expand our partnership and economic ties,” said Miller.

“Our economic cooperation with Pakistan reflects our vision for the region, as one comprised of nations that are independent, strong and prosperous, and our relationships are based on a spirit of respect and partnership,” he added.