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15-10-2022
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
WASHINGTON/ ISLAMABAD: United States President Joe Biden has alleged that Pakistan’s nuclear program lacks “cohesion” while he was speaking about the aggressive attitude of Russia and China.
The remark came during the US president’s address at a democratic congressional campaign committee reception, where he referred to Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous countries”.
“Did anybody think we would be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan,” Biden said.
The US president said that he has spent more time with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping than any other head of state in the world, 68 hours of which was in person.
Referring to China President Jinping, Biden said that he “understands what he wants but has an 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 president said, adding that despite a lot going on, the US has a hunk of opportunities to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century.
Pakistan mulls response
Meanwhile, a virtual meeting is being held at the Foreign Office where the situation arising out of the US president’s controversial statement is being discussed to decide Islamabad’s official response, according to Geo News sources.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood, Additional Secretary Americas, Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Masood Khan and other officials are attending the huddle.
The sources said that FM Bilawal Bhutto will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the meeting and other stakeholders will also be consulted in this regard before giving a detailed official response.
While speaking to Geo News, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is difficult to understand the context in which President Biden made these unnecessary remarks.
He said that several US presidents and the government has always declared the security of Pakistan’s nuclear program and controls effective and according to international standards.
‘Baseless’
Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan a senior member of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet has termed the US president’s statement about Pakistan’s nuclear program “baseless”.
While answering a question about President Joe Biden’s comments regarding Pakistan during a press conference today, the former defence minister said, “Pakistan’s nuclear command and control system is absolutely safe which has been confirmed by international organizations many times”.
He said that the US president’s doubts about Pakistan’s nukes are “completely wrong and the statement is baseless”.
PML-N blames PTI
Meanwhile, the ruling PML-N has held PTI responsible for Biden’s statement, saying, the lobbying firm hired by the Imran Khan-led party is doing what it was paid to do.
“Make no mistake about it, this is a direct attack on the national security of Pakistan.”
‘Is Biden referring to US?’: Asad Umar
Reacting to the allegation, PTI General Secretary Asad Umar criticized the US president saying that “countries in glass houses should think before throwing stones at others.”
He asked if Biden meant the United States by “nuclear country without cohesion”.
“After all his party is going after Donald Trump for trying to subvert the constitution and steal the last presidential election,” he wrote on Twitter.
