Pakistan has summoned the US ambassador for an explanation after President Joe Biden described the South Asian country as “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” and questioned its nuclear weapons safety protocols.
Saturday’s demand for an explanation followed Biden’s apparently off-the-cuff remark late on Thursday while talking about United States foreign policy during a private Democratic Party fundraiser in California.
The White House later published a transcript of his comments which sparked outrage in Pakistan.
Washington’s relations with Pakistan have soured since last year, when the US ended a two-decade war in Afghanistan.
Pakistan provided crucial logistical access, but US officials believe Islamabad’s powerful military and intelligence apparatus also aided the Taliban, who swept back to power as foreign troops pulled out.
Biden was speaking about his frequent interactions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, when he said: “Did anybody think we’d be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan?
“This is a guy 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.”
The US is wary of Pakistan’s close partnership with China, as Beijing pushes ahead with a $54 billion “economic corridor” that will build infrastructure and give Beijing an outlet to the Indian Ocean.
Washington has repeatedly said China will reap most of the benefits, leaving Pakistan with unsustainable debt.
The warnings by the US – which considers China its preeminent global competitor – have repeatedly been brushed aside by Pakistan.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan this week abstained from a United Nationals General Assembly vote to condemn Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine, despite a major US diplomatic push to seek clearer condemnation of Moscow.
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