WASHINGTON: The United States does n’t ask Pakistan to choose between it and China, but rather wants countries “to be suitable to have a choice ”. Still, Washington is upset that nations entering into connections with China “are not going to end up well”, said Derek Chollet, a elderly counsel to the US Secretary of State.
In an interview with Dawn, Counselor Chollet said Washington wasn’t “hysterical of contending with China, but would like to have a fair competition”.
He stressed that the US had honest differences with both India and Pakistan, but wanted to maintain and diversify its strong relationship with Islamabad.
Mr Chollet also spoke about former high minister Imran Khan’s allegations of US involvement in tripping his government, pointing out that those claims were fully unwarranted.
Asked if the US was worried with the former premier and those allegations make him a lower liked politician in the States, Mr Chollet said “All I can say is that there’s nothing to the allegations. Those weren’t true.”
“What we want to stay focused on is where we’re going in the US-Pakistan relationship, to reflect on all that we’ve achieved in 75 times but also all that we must achieve in the coming 75 times.”
The US functionary also underscored Washington’s enterprises about the current cataracts in Pakistan, pointing out that the Biden administration formerly blazoned $30 million in backing and was willing to do further.
“These terrible cataracts are commodity that we haven’t seen since 2010. And by some accounts, it’s worse than the cataracts of 2010,” he said. “It’s a climate cataclysm that we’re seeing in Pakistan. It’s just ruinous.”
The US, he said, was committed to “doing our part with our mates in the transnational community to help Pakistan respond to this terrible natural disaster.”
The US would also work with the United Nations to raise $160m for the flood tide victims, he added.
Responding to a question about his statement that the US wasn’t hysterical of having a fair competition with China, he said “Pakistan has a close relationship with China, has for numerous times. The US again, isn’t asking countries to choose between the US and China. We just want countries to be suitable to have a choice.”
Reminded that in the history, this relationship was more linked to US security enterprises about the region, Mr Chollet said “We’re interested in diversifying the relationship indeed further. We formerly have a fairly strong and robust business relationship. But I suppose that’s commodity that we’re interested in growing further.”
Asked if Pakistan still had strategic value for the US, he said “Oh, absolutely. I mean, Pakistan is one of the world’s largest Muslim countries. It has the fifth or sixth largest population. It’s a critically important country to the US.”
“And that’s why we’re committed as we project forward over the coming 75 times, to find ways that we can consolidate this cooperation and achieve so numerous of the participated interests and pretensions that we have. ”
On a question about why occasionally people in Pakistan feel that India gets an illegal advantage—for case, Washington allows it to buy cheap oil painting from Russia while precluding Pakistan from doing so—Mr Chollet said “Our relationship with each country stands on its own. And we’ve much that we partake with both countries,” he said. “We do have honest differences with both countries. What matters is how we work through those differences.”
“Our perspective in terms of working with Pakistan is we’re going to work through those differences in the spirit of cooperation, and cooperation and try to keep an eye on all that we partake. We both are going to remain true to our interests and our values. But we see important that we partake together.”
Do US enterprises about China make India a more precious supporter? To this, he said “These connections, we don’t see them as conjoined. They’re separate connections. And we’ve separate sets of pretensions, intentions, and challenges with both countries.”
Still, he agreed that the US had a concern about China encyclopedically. “In South Asia and in East Asia, in Southeast Asia, each around the world, China is playing a part that in numerous cases isn’t harmonious with what we suppose our interests are,” he said.
The US, he said, committed to chancing ways to work with China on participated interests, for illustration, on climate change, but the Chinese pulled out of these conversations.
Asked if Pakistan could also face a Sri Lanka- suchlike situation because of the Chinese loans, he said “What we’re upset about is that countries—whether in South Asia or each around the world — entering into connections with China aren’t going to end up well.”
“And so, we want to be veritably candid with countries about the choices that they make. And again, the critical thing, it isn’t for the US to decide, these are choices.”
