Amid the political turmoil in Pakistan, the United States declared on Tuesday that Islamabad is an important partner of the USA in the region and it wants Pakistan to succeed despite the country’s internal unrest.
John Kirby, the White House’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, spoke to reporters and stated, “We want to see Pakistan be a success. And we want to see the Pakistan government live up to the strongest aspirations of the Pakistani people.” He was answering a question on the current situation in Pakistan and US govt wanting a stable Pakistan.
“Pakistan is an important partner in the region. They are suffering from the threat of terrorism every single day. And we are mindful of the challenges that they are facing politically and economically as well. In the United States, they will continue to find a good friend,” he responded to the query raising concern over the grave situation in the South-Asian country.
In a different press conference, Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department, told reporters that the US does not support any particular candidate or political party in Pakistan or any other nation and emphasised how important a strong, stable, and wealthy Pakistan is to its relations with the country.
“We do not choose a political party or a particular candidate when it comes to Pakistan or really any country. As it relates to Pakistan, our view is that a strong, stable, prosperous Pakistan is key to a strong and stable US-Pakistan relationship,” he answered a question on the political circus in Pakistan.
“Our belief is that individuals should have the freedom to express themselves, but do so without participating in any violence, violence that would put government employees in government buildings in harm’s way. And specifically on the arrest, I spoke a little bit to this last week,” he mentioned referring to the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s arrest last week by the Pakistani Rangers.
Meanwhile, the Australian phase of US President Joe Biden’s tour has been postponed because of acrimonious negotiations with the Republican-majority US Congress over the government’s debt threshold. He also pulled out of a visit to Papua New Guinea.
He was scheduled to participate in the third Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad Summit) with prime ministers Narendra Modi of India, Fumio Kishida of Japan and Anthony Albanese of Australia, but his vital travel has been hindered by the country’s contentious internal politics.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden and opposition Republican leaders provided optimism of a compromise that would prevent a disastrous US debt default, however, the most recent discussions came to an end without an agreement. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that the US faces an “unprecedented economic and financial storm,” referring to the debt crisis the US govt is facing.
US govt needs to raise its debt ceiling, failing to do so will result in the govt defaulting on its bills, which will be a historic first. Like most other govts, US govt also spends more than its revenue collected in forms of taxes and duties etc, and they cover the deficit by borrowing money.
To borrow money, the US treasury issues securities, like US government bonds, that it will eventually pay back with interest. However, there is a limit to how much money the US government can borrow. Once this debt limit is reached, the treasury cannot issue more securities, which means the govt has no more money to spend. This can lead to the suspension of various govt-run services. The US Congress sets the debt limit, which is $31.4 trillion at present.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also announced on Wednesday that the Quad leaders’ summit scheduled for Sydney the following week would not take place. This development occurred as Washington tries to strengthen its security connections in the Pacific despite the growing rivalry with Beijing.
Despite the cancellation, it was reported that there would be no change in plan for PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia.
All four leaders are still slated to attend this weekend’s G7 summit in Hiroshima, where the Quad countries, United States of America (USA), India, Australia, and Japan are now likely to hold a side meeting.
