Pak-US relations normal despite no call between Biden, Imran: US diplomat

LONDON: The United States spokesman on South Asia, Zed Tarar, has said that no telephone call from President Joe Biden to Prime Minister Imran Khan in over six months doesn’t mean that the relations between Pakistan and US are not functioning well.

“The officials of the two administrations are in regular contact with each other and cooperating at various levels as normal. I don’t want to go into the logistics of the telephone call matter. Only a few days ago, the US gave three million vaccine doses to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture,” said Zed Tarar during an interaction with the Pakistani media here on Friday.

The American diplomat said the Pak-US relations are based on “mutual respect” and the two countries have an “old friendship”. He said actions speak and it is reflected in relations between the two countries.

When asked if the US had requested Pakistan for bases, the diplomat said that there was “no demand” and “no request” and it has been made clear. When asked by The News and Geo, why the US had left Afghanistan in a hurry leaving behind a chaotic and civil war like situation, the American diplomat said that “it’s now time that the Afghan people should decide the future of Afghanistan”.

He said: “Withdrawing from Afghanistan doesn’t mean that the US has abandoned Afghanistan. This means that the US wants a stable and peaceful Afghanistan, where there is no use of force and use of guns. Our assistance to the people of Afghanistan will remain there and President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said that it’s not in the interests of anyone if there is violence and civil war in the country. Antony Blinken has said that Pakistan and China and other regional countries don’t want a civil war in Afghanistan.”

Zed Tarar is a fluent speaker of Urdu. His parents are originally from Lahore. After initial education in Lahore, he moved with his parents to Boston. He has served in several countries before being appointed at the US Embassy London Regional Media hub.