As Imran Khan still awaits Joe Biden's call, frustrated Pakistan NSA 'doesn't understand'

While Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan still awaits a maiden phone call from US President Joe Biden since the latter entered office, Pakistan’s national security adviser has flagged the repercussions of Washington’s actions on ties with Islamabad. In an interview with Financial Times, Moeed Yusuf, Pakistan’s national security adviser has complained about the United States ignoring Pakistani leadership even virtually seven months after Biden acquired the American presidency. Notably, Biden has communicated with leaders across the world including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

“The president of the United States hasn’t spoken to the prime minister of such an important country who the US itself says is make-or-break in some cases, in some ways, in Afghanistan — we struggle to understand the signal, right?” Yusuf reportedly told the outlet.

“We’ve been told every time that . . . [the phone call] will happen, it’s technical reasons or whatever. But frankly, people don’t believe it...If a phone call is a concession, if a security relationship is a concession, Pakistan has options,” he reportedly added, refusing to elaborate.

China-Pakistan ties continue to deepen

Meanwhile, Pakistan appeared to have created strong ties with “iron brother” China with Beijing investing billions in infrastructure projects in Islamabad as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative. As per the report, a senior official from the Biden administration has said that there are still “a number of world leaders President Biden has not been able to speak to personally, yet. He looks forward to speaking with Prime Minister Khan when the time is right.”

The perceived diplomatic hold marks the latest setback to the United states-Pakistan relations after their cooperation during the war on terror after the 9/11 terror attacks on World Trade Center by Al-Qaeda, the Islamist group founded by Osama bin Laden. Back in 2004, the United States termed Pakistan an official major non-NATO ally spurred by America’s requirement for the backing tackle in Afghanistan.

However, citing a diplomatic source, The Nation reported that Pakistan’s efforts to elevate ties with the US seem to remain unsuccessful because of ‘divergent’ views on Afghanistan and China. The source reportedly informed, “Divergent views on Afghanistan and China factor are the reasons for tense ties between Islamabad and Washington, after the meeting, the US National Security Adviser's tweet was focussed on Afghanistan while there was no mention of Afghanistan in Dr Moeed Yousaf's tweet.”

IMAGE: AP/PTI