ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that the United States would reassess its ties with Pakistan over Afghanistan were “not in line with the close cooperation” between Islamabad and Washington, the Pakistani foreign office said on Thursday, saying the country would take its foreign policy decisions based on its own interests.
Earlier this week, Blinken said the US would recalibrate its relationship with Pakistan in the coming weeks to formulate what role Washington would want it to play in the future of Afghanistan.
In the first public hearing in Congress about Afghanistan since last month’s collapse of the US-backed Afghan government, Blinken told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that Pakistan had a “multiplicity of interests some that are in conflict with ours.”
The remarks were downplayed by State Department spokesperson Ned Price who said the US was “in regular touch” with Pakistan and there was a “consensus” between the two nations on the gains made in Afghanistan.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Pakistani foreign office said the country did not “take any pressure” and would make “independent decisions in line with our interests.”
“We have noted that the comments were not in line with the close cooperation between Pakistan and the United States,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in response to a question about comments by Blinken and other US lawmakers.
“This was surprising as Pakistan’s positive role in the Afghan peace process, recent facilitation of the multinational evacuation effort from Afghanistan, and continued support for an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan have been duly acknowledged, including most recently by the US State Department spokesperson in his briefing of 15 September 2021.”
“I would add that achieving an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan that represents Afghanistan’s diversity and reflects the gains made by the country remains a shared objective for Pakistan and the United States. We look forward to building on this convergence while also strengthening other aspects of a broad-based and constructive relationship.”
The US and other Western powers have been in a difficult balancing act in the aftermath of the Taliban seizure of Afghanistan — reluctant to recognize the group while accepting the reality that they will have to engage with it to prevent a looming humanitarian crisis.