WASHINGTON: A senior White House official has assured Islamabad that US President Joe Biden understands the threats Pakistan faces and is committed to working with the country to remove those threats.
At a Wednesday afternoon news briefing in Washington, White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communication John Kirby also highlighted US efforts to reshape and scale up multilateral development banks like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
President Biden, he said, will discuss the proposal with G20 leaders in New Delhi this weekend.
“We know that these institutions are some of the most effective tools for mobilising transparent and high-quality investment in developing countries,” Mr Kirby said.
“And that’s why the US has championed the major effort that is currently underway to evolve these institutions so that they’re up for the challenges of tomorrow,” he added.
When reminded that in October last year, President Biden called Pakistan “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” because it had “nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” Mr Kirby explained why the US was so concerned about Pakistan.
“We know that the Pakistani people continue to suffer the threat from terrorism, particularly along that border … with Afghanistan,” he said.
“And we’re going to continue to work with Pakistan — to the degree that they’re comfortable with, of course — to help address those kinds of security threats to their own people and to their own borders because it’s not an insignificant threat,” he said.
Underlining the seriousness of the threats confronting Pakistan, Mr Kirby said: “There is a lot of danger that’s still posed to the Pakistani people, and the President understands that, and he’s committed to continue to work with Pakistan.”
Comments are closed.