Pakistan PM slams Biden's 'most dangerous nation' comment

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has lashed out at US president Joe Biden’s comment that ‘Pakistan is one of the most dangerous nations in the world’, calling it “factually incorrect and misleading”.

The Pakistan foreign ministry not only summoned the US envoy, PM Sharif tweeted in strong words that Pakistan is a “responsible nuclear state” and they take their safety measures with the utmost seriousness.

In a tweet on Saturday (October 15), the Pakistan PM said, “Let me reiterate unequivocally: Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and we are proud that our nuclear assets have the best safeguards as per IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) requirements.” And, he added, “We take these safety measures with the utmost seriousness. Let no one have any doubts.”

Shehbaz Sharif’s office, also issued a statement criticising Biden’s comments, calling it “factually incorrect and misleading”.

Also read: Pakistan ‘one of the most dangerous nations,’ says Joe Biden

“Pakistan and the US have a long history of a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship. At a time, when the world is confronted by huge global challenges, it is critically important that genuine and durable efforts are made to recognise the real potential of the Pakistan-US relationship while avoiding unnecessary comments. It is our sincere desire to cooperate with the US to promote regional peace and security,” said the PM to the media.

Nuclear weapons without any cohesion: Biden on Pakistan

Biden had made these comments on Pakistan at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception earlier this week.

Speaking in the context of China and his relationship with President Xi Jinping, Biden had said, “This is a guy [Xi Jinping] 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.”

Also read: Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar meets World Bank President David Malpass

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan also reacted to Biden’s statement asking on what basis Biden made this statement. And further said that “unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression, especially post-nuclearisation.”

Meanwhile Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari evinced “surprise” at Biden’s statement on Saturday during a news conference in Karachi. “I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement,” he added.

“If there is any question as to nuclear safety, then they should be directed to our neighbour India, who very recently accidentally fired a missile into Pakistani territory,” pointed out Bhutto-Zardari, referring to the accidental firing of a supersonic missile by India into Pakistan on March 9.

The ties between the US and Pakistan hit a rough patch now and then, especially over what US perceives as Islamabad’s failure to crackdown on terror groups. Moreover, in the past  decade, Pakistan has gradually moved towards its regional ally China for its economic and defence needs leading to cooling of ties with Washington.