Amid attempts to strike a balance in its relations with the US and China, Pakistan has said it can help bridge the differences between the two world powers.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained over their attempts to increase their global influence. The tensions stem mainly from disagreements over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
While Pakistan has aligned itself with the US for military cooperation and counter-terrorism efforts, it relies heavily on China to address its financial woes. Islamabad has strengthened economic ties with Beijing through initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“Pakistan has the potential to serve as a bridge between China and the United States,” Pakistan ambassador to Washington Rizwan Saeed Sheikh was quoted as saying by state-run Radio Pakistan on Friday.
The statement was made just hours after Pakistan’s foreign office declared on Thursday that Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election would not impact Pakistan’s ties with China. When questioned on the matter, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had responded, “Pakistan’s relations with China are all-weather. They are strategic and a source of stability in our foreign policy.”
Baloch said Islamabad does not even need to consider the possibility that its relationship with China will be affected by any domestic development in another country.
The intricate rivalry between the US and China affects Pakistan as it manages its strategic alliances with both powers while enduring a protracted economic crisis.
“Our relations with the US are decades old, and we look forward to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-US relationship in all fields,” Baloch said. “As the deputy PM (Ishaq Dar) said in a tweet yesterday, we look forward to fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and the US.”
During the Cold War, Pakistan and the US had developed close defence ties, but their relationship was also put to the test by different priorities on various issues.
Relations between the two had soured in recent years as Washington accused Islamabad of aiding the Taliban in their 2021 takeover of Kabul, accusations that Islamabad denied. Tensions increased even more between the two countries when Pakistan’s jailed former PM Imran Khan accused the Biden administration of planning his removal through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022, a claim denied by the US.
