Dalit
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Pakistan’s allies in Washington have been trying, in the meanwhile, to catch the Biden administration’s attention and get it interested in resetting ties with the one-time ally
By Yashwant Raj
PUBLISHED ON APR 09, 2021 12:30 PM IST
The United States (US) state department spokesperson Ned Price could not have chosen a better word to reflect the Joe Biden administration’s weariness with Pakistan. Asked about Islamabad’s flip-flop on sugar and cotton imports from India, Price said the US “continues” to encourage the two countries to resolve their concerns through direct dialogue. Actually, he could have simply shrugged.
Pakistan’s steadily diminishing equity with the US may have hit rock bottom with the Biden administration. “For the first time in over two decades, Pakistan is not a foreign-policy priority for a new US administration,” two former Obama administration officials acknowledged in recent, and sympathetic article, advocating a reset of ties with Pakistan. And this might be good thing to keep in the rearview as New Delhi responds to Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa’s call to “bury the past and move forward”.
Former President Donald Trump wanted to mediate and made it known several times, to New Delhi’s irritation. But Biden is not interested apparently, and his administration has played no role in the newest stab at peace on the subcontinent, according to several people familiar with these developments.
Biden has shown no interest in engaging Pakistan. He has not spoken to Prime Minister Imran Khan yet, more than two months after taking office. And that’s despite a direct request from Islamabad. The US President has also not invited Khan to his virtual summit on climate later this month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are among the 40 world leaders who will attend.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, but the conversation was most unlike how first-calls tend to be. It was an uncomfortable call about the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a man convicted of kidnapping and killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Some in Islamabad wonder if Sheikh’s release ordered by the Supreme Court just a week after Biden’s inauguration in January is behind the current chill. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin spoke with General Bajwa on phone during his travels in the region, but he did not stop by for a visit. He went to India and then skipped over Pakistan for an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s allies in Washington have been trying, in the meanwhile, to catch the Biden administration’s attention and get it interested in resetting ties with the one-time ally. One of them called for a “rightsized” US-Pakistan relationship focused on economic and cultural interests. Another one called also for economic ties as the new focus but sought a “light government touch”, in other words, US government help.
There is no indication the Biden administration — the national security council is driving the South Asia engagement for now in the absence of senate-confirmed assistant secretaries to head the relevant bureaus at the state and defence departments — is interested in a reset. Bajwa’s peace offer, as one American observer said, could be a move to “impress” Biden, win a reprieve and get something that looks like a reset. And no more.
www.hindustantimes.com
This is an Indian source, but one without the usual jabs and rhetoric. I think the author is right on the money. After so many snubs lately we can safely assume that the new Biden administration has thus far shown very little desire to get off to a positive start. We could argue that the court in Pakistan didn't punish Omar Sheikh as the Americans wanted and that may have been a contributing factor, but there is so much more. The Democrats are indeed not interested in resetting ties.
I think it is safe to say that with the Biden administration we are back to cold politics between Democrats and Pakistan.
It is also very notable how the armed forces and Imran Khan are in tandem trying to make desperate efforts to have cordial relations with the US despite the latter's cold shouldering.
By Yashwant Raj
PUBLISHED ON APR 09, 2021 12:30 PM IST
The United States (US) state department spokesperson Ned Price could not have chosen a better word to reflect the Joe Biden administration’s weariness with Pakistan. Asked about Islamabad’s flip-flop on sugar and cotton imports from India, Price said the US “continues” to encourage the two countries to resolve their concerns through direct dialogue. Actually, he could have simply shrugged.
Pakistan’s steadily diminishing equity with the US may have hit rock bottom with the Biden administration. “For the first time in over two decades, Pakistan is not a foreign-policy priority for a new US administration,” two former Obama administration officials acknowledged in recent, and sympathetic article, advocating a reset of ties with Pakistan. And this might be good thing to keep in the rearview as New Delhi responds to Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa’s call to “bury the past and move forward”.
Former President Donald Trump wanted to mediate and made it known several times, to New Delhi’s irritation. But Biden is not interested apparently, and his administration has played no role in the newest stab at peace on the subcontinent, according to several people familiar with these developments.
Biden has shown no interest in engaging Pakistan. He has not spoken to Prime Minister Imran Khan yet, more than two months after taking office. And that’s despite a direct request from Islamabad. The US President has also not invited Khan to his virtual summit on climate later this month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are among the 40 world leaders who will attend.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, but the conversation was most unlike how first-calls tend to be. It was an uncomfortable call about the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a man convicted of kidnapping and killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Some in Islamabad wonder if Sheikh’s release ordered by the Supreme Court just a week after Biden’s inauguration in January is behind the current chill. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin spoke with General Bajwa on phone during his travels in the region, but he did not stop by for a visit. He went to India and then skipped over Pakistan for an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s allies in Washington have been trying, in the meanwhile, to catch the Biden administration’s attention and get it interested in resetting ties with the one-time ally. One of them called for a “rightsized” US-Pakistan relationship focused on economic and cultural interests. Another one called also for economic ties as the new focus but sought a “light government touch”, in other words, US government help.
There is no indication the Biden administration — the national security council is driving the South Asia engagement for now in the absence of senate-confirmed assistant secretaries to head the relevant bureaus at the state and defence departments — is interested in a reset. Bajwa’s peace offer, as one American observer said, could be a move to “impress” Biden, win a reprieve and get something that looks like a reset. And no more.
Pakistan’s steadily diminishing equity with the US may have hit rock bottom
Pakistan’s allies in Washington have been trying, in the meanwhile, to catch the Biden administration’s attention and get it interested in resetting ties with the one-time ally
This is an Indian source, but one without the usual jabs and rhetoric. I think the author is right on the money. After so many snubs lately we can safely assume that the new Biden administration has thus far shown very little desire to get off to a positive start. We could argue that the court in Pakistan didn't punish Omar Sheikh as the Americans wanted and that may have been a contributing factor, but there is so much more. The Democrats are indeed not interested in resetting ties.
I think it is safe to say that with the Biden administration we are back to cold politics between Democrats and Pakistan.
It is also very notable how the armed forces and Imran Khan are in tandem trying to make desperate efforts to have cordial relations with the US despite the latter's cold shouldering.
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