Bilawal’s US visit

Need for a reset in Pakistan’s most important relationship

New Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is being plunged in at the deep end, with his first solo trip abroad being to the USA, with which the relationship is touching a new nadir, especially after former PM Iran Khan insists that his government was ousted because of a US-backed conspiracy, which it has denied on a number of occasions. He will depart for the USA to attend the World Food Security Conference on May 19, but more attention is likely to be paid to his expected sideline meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, whose invitation to the Summit broke the ice between the two countries. Secretary Blinken’s call to Mr Bhutto-Zardari to congratulate him on assuming office had initiated the USA’s latest attempt to engage with Pakistan. It does indicate that both the new government and the USA wish to turn a new leaf on the relationship.

It is perhaps apposite that the first in-person contact at the ministerial level will come at a Food Security Summit of which the primary purpose is to examine the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on global food security. Apart from the important food security dimension, Pakistan’s problems with the USA stem from Imran Khan’s perceived tilt towards Russia. The new government has not relented on this point, perhaps to deprive Mr Khan of ammunition for his claim that this was an ‘imported government.’

It would perhaps be too much to expect of the young Foreign Minister to rapidly solve all matters in just one meeting, but it would be helpful if he could convey to the USA that it was not to impose any measures which would lead to Pakistan’s economic collapse. One defaulter in the region is enough, and there does not seem any point in driving Pakistan to a point where Sri Lanka is at the present. The USA must remember that the USA cannot afford to abandon Pakistan. Mr Bhutto-Zardari should not be expected to reverse matters in this meeting, which will probably be an occasion where the two counterparts size each other up, but it is to be hoped that he makes a good beginning in a task that needs much diplomacy and delicacy, as its urgency becomes overpowering.

Editorial
Editorial
The Editorial Department of Pakistan Today can be contacted at: [email protected].

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