ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state minister for foreign affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, has stated that her country does not have an “appetite” for picking a side in the escalating global rivalry between the United States and China and remains concerned about the consequences of a world divided into two blocs.
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan has maintained strong diplomatic ties with both countries. During the Cold War, it aligned with the US, which enabled it to enhance its military strength.
In recent decades, the bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US have been tumultuous, particularly since the inception of the “war on terror” following the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.
As American administrations began cooperating with India, Islamabad’s primary arms supplier, China, expanded its influence in Pakistan through unprecedented collaboration, including the launch of a multibillion-dollar economic corridor project.
During an exclusive interview with the US-based publication POLITICO in Brussels this week, Minister Khar emphasized it was not in Pakistan’s interest to take sides in the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
“We have a history of being in a close, collaborative mode with the US,” Khar said. “We have no intention of leaving that. Pakistan also has the reality of being in a close, collaborative mode with China, and until China suddenly came to everyone’s threat perception, that was always the case.”
Nevertheless, Khar expressed Pakistan’s concerns and feeling of being “threatened” by the consequences of the perceived rivalry between the United States and China.
“We are highly threatened by this notion of splitting the world into two blocs, so we are very concerned about this decoupling … Anything that splits the world further,” she said.
When asked about the increase in militant attacks across Pakistan by the proscribed Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who broke a fragile peace agreement with the government in November, Khar highlighted that Islamabad is taking a “highly diplomatic approach” rather than resorting to “strong-arm tactics.”
She said Pakistan was engaging in talks with the Afghan Taliban, an ally of the TTP, in an effort to address the issue.
“Threatening anyone normally gets you worse results than the ones you started with,” she continued. “Even when it is exceptionally difficult to engage at a point when you think your red lines have not been taken seriously, we will still try the route of engagement.”
Furthermore, the minister rejected the idea of China or the US intervening in Pakistan’s attempt to defeat the TTP.
“When it comes to boots on the ground, we would welcome no one,” she said.
