ISLAMABAD: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the United States (US) sees an opportunity in expanding its strategic relationship with Pakistan, which does not come at the expense of Washington’s ties with India.
Rubio’s statement came in response to a question at a press briefing on Saturday whether India had raised any concerns about the “stronger relationship” between Washington and Islamabad.
Relations between the US and Pakistan have seen significant ups and downs, but the two countries have come closer in recent months after President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Pakistan and India following their four-day military conflict in May.
Pakistani civilian and military leaders have gained favor with Trump since publicly endorsing him for a Nobel Peace Prize for the ceasefire, with the US president significantly lowering trade tariffs on Pakistan from 29 percent to 19 percent in July this year.
“They really haven’t – I mean, we know they’re concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed between Pakistan and India historically. But, I think they have to understand we have to have relations with a lot of different countries,” Rubio said.
“We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan, and I think we’ve made – that’s our job, is to try to figure out how many countries we can find how we can work with on things of common interest.”
In Sept., American firm US Strategic Metals (USSM) and Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization (FWO) signed a $500 million deal for collaboration across a range of minerals essential for the defense, aerospace and technology industries.
“The partnership will begin immediately with the export of readily available minerals from Pakistan, including antimony, copper, gold, tungsten, and rare earth elements. This cooperation lays the foundation for scaling up toward the establishment of a USSM proprietary, highly flexible poly-metallic refinery in Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said.
“The refinery will produce intermediate and finished products dedicated to meeting the rapidly growing demand of the US market. The first phase of this deal is envisaged at approximately $500 million of investments into Pakistan’s critical minerals sector.”
The next steps for the MoU include forming dedicated teams to explore the full potential of Pakistan’s vast resource base, identifying critical minerals for immediate export, and building an anchor position for a long-term partnership in exploration, extraction, and processing.
Critical minerals are a select group of non-fuel minerals and metals essential for modern manufacturing, technological advancements, and the transition to clean energy technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles but are subject to supply chain vulnerabilities.
While Pakistan is rich in gold, copper and lithium reserves as well as other minerals, its mineral sector contributes only 3.2 percent to the country’s GDP and 0.1 percent to global exports, according to official figures.
In August, Pakistani and US officials also discussed ways to strengthen Pakistan’s railways and infrastructure to support mineral extraction and transportation, the US embassy said.
