The Pakistani government has summoned the US ambassador to ask for explanations
15 (EUROPE PRESS)
US President Joe Biden has warned that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” because it has nuclear weapons and “no cohesion”. Islamabad has summoned the US ambassador in protest.
“And the one I think may be one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons and no cohesion,” Biden said last Thursday during a Democratic Campaign Committee event whose transcript has now been released by the White House.
During his speech, Biden referred to the changing geopolitical situation at the global level with abundant references to Russia and China and the changes in alliances.
“The truth of the matter is — and I sincerely believe it — that the world is watching us. No kidding. Even our enemies are watching us to see how we think, what we do,” he said.
For Biden “there is a lot at stake” because the United States “has the ability to lead the world and take it to a place it has never been.”
“Has anyone of you thought since the Cuban Missile Crisis that a Russian leader would threaten to use tactical nuclear weapons that can kill 3,000 or 4,000 people in a limited attack?” he warned. “Did anyone believe that China would try to change its relationship with Russia and with India and Pakistan?” she added.
The Pakistani government has summoned the US ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, for his “wrong” statements and to convey his “disappointment” and “concern” about them.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and the Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, have expressed their discomfort at Biden’s words.
“Pakistan rejects the statements allegedly made by the US president, which are factually incorrect and misleading,” Sharif said in a statement picked up by Geo TV. Sharif has stressed that in recent decades Pakistan has proven to be “the most responsible nuclear state” and meet the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
For Sharif, the real threat to world peace and security is ultranationalism, the violation of Human Rights in the illegally occupied territories, the breach of International Law and repeated nuclear incidents.
The office of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with whom Pakistan became a nuclear power, has also come out against Biden’s statements. “Our nuclear program is not a threat to any country,” he stressed.
Former Prime Minister Imran Jan has also asked “what information does Biden have to reach this unwarranted conclusion.” “I have been prime minister and I know that we have one of the safest nuclear command and control systems”, he has riveted.
