US President Joe Biden called Pakistan “one of the most dangerous nations” in the world with “nuclear weapons without any cohesion” in what was arguably his most direct criticism of the country.
Pakistan has summoned the US ambassador and issued a demarche on the statement by POTUS.
Pakistan’s minister of foreign affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that due to the “failure of Imran Khan’s policy – we are hurt in all front – we are trying to rectify and strengthen relationship”.
Bilawal said Biden’s remark was apparently in a private event as it was not an address to the nation or any official event. “We have summoned the US Ambassador to know and to get an explanation,” he said.
The US President criticised both China and Russia during his remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception in Los Angeles, California.
Biden mentioned Pakistan while discussing US foreign policy on China and Russia. In his final statement, Biden termed Pakistan as one of the most dangerous nations on earth.
“This is a guy (Xi Jinping) who understands what he wants but has an enormous, enormous array of problems. How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” said Biden, as quoted in a White House press release of his remarks at the Democratic party event.
The Shehbaz Sharif administration’s continued efforts to strengthen relations with the US may have suffered a setback as a result of Biden’s comments.
Speaking on the occasion, Biden stated that the US has a tremendous opportunity to alter the situation in the second decade of the 21st century.
“So, folks, there’s a lot going on. A lot going on. But there’re also enormous opportunities for the United States to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century,” the US President said.
The United States National Security Strategy was released two days prior to these remarks. Pakistan is not discussed in the 48-page report.