ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said it was difficult to predict what trajectory the Pakistan-United States relationship would take under President-elect Joe Biden but he hoped the new administration would opt for an “evenhanded approach” toward India and Pakistan.
Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20.
In the last two years, Khan had courted the administration of President Donald Trump in an attempt to rejig ties between Washington and Islamabad. However, the US ultimately moved even closer to Pakistani arch-rival New Delhi and signed a series of security agreements.
Speaking to Turkish media in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Khan said it was “difficult to predict” the shape of Pakistan-US ties under Biden.
“But what I can say is we want the US to be even-handed between Pakistan and India; that’s all we want,” the Pakistani leader said. “What we do not want is what is happening right now where India is supposed to be this big ally of the Western countries against China.”
He lamented the United States’ “lopsided” policy, saying: “India is favored, Pakistan’s legitimate rights are ignored.”
Tensions have been running particularly high between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and Indian since last year, when New Delhi stripped the special status of the disputed Kashmir region, unleashing anger in Islamabad. Pakistan and India both claim Kashmir in full and rule it in part.
Pakistan and the United States have also for long had a complicated relationship. Officially allies in fighting terrorism, their relationship has been bound on the one hand by Washington’s dependence on Pakistan to supply its troops in Afghanistan but on the other hand, ties have also been plagued over the years by accusations that Afghan Taliban militants and the Haqqani network that target American troops in Afghanistan are allowed to shelter on Pakistani soil. Islamabad denies this.
In recent months, however, Pakistan has played a productive behind-the-scenes role to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table for talks with the US and to eventually participate in an intra-Afghan dialogue with the Kabul government, earning Pakistan acknowledgement for its positive role in helping move the peace process forward.
Pakistan has made “huge sacrifices” for the United States in Afghanistan, the PM said in Wednesday’s interview.
Speaking about Daesh gunmen abducting and killing 11 miners from the Hazara Shia community on Sunday, Khan said the incident was “unfortunate” and “terrible.”
Relatives of the slain miners have been sitting with the coffins on a highway in Quetta for four days, refusing to bury them until Khan visited Quetta.
Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province is plagued by threats from several armed groups, including sectarian militant outfits who attack minorities, and separatist groups seeking independence for the province.
Quetta is home to roughly 600,000 Hazara Shias, largely confined to two fortified enclaves to protect against attacks.
“We will assure them [minorities] of complete support and protection,” Khan said. “We believe that minorities in Pakistan are equal citizens and the job of the state is to protect them.”