Pakistan’s continuous attempts to appease China is taking it far away from the US as reports claim that Islamabad’s refusal to participate in the US President Joe Biden’s ‘Summit for Democracy’ is the latest indication, a media report said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office earlier this month had turned down the US invitation that urged the country to attend the ‘Summit for Democracy’, which experts say was an attempt by US President Joe Biden to sideline China as Beijing was not part of it. The US invited 110 countries including Pakistan but Islamabad’s rejection to participate made a general observation that the Imran Khan government stood with China.
Currently, Pakistan has fears that it might be caught in the firing relations of the US and China. Meanwhile, the country is also managing to cooperate with the impact of deepening relations between Washington and New Delhi and the looming crisis in Afghanistan, reported The Nation.
The US had the limited importance of South Asia until the end of the Cold War. But the developing scenarios have turned South Asia far more volatile in geopolitical, security and financial issues. Therefore, Islamabad has more chances of deepening its relations with the US but perhaps Pakistan’s proximity with China could be a strong barrier to this.
With regard to the rejection of the US invitation to the Democracy Summit, diplomatic sources in Islamabad said that Pakistan was trying to placate the US amid the deteriorating ties.
“All is not lost. Pakistan and the US need each other and will sit down together. We (Pakistan and the US) are already cooperating on a number of issues, including Afghanistan,” The Nation quoted a senior diplomat as saying.