The US ambassador to Pakistan has reportedly been summoned, according to Pakistan's foreign minister, after President Joe Biden claimed that Pakistan "may be one of the most dangerous" nations in the world and that it has "nuclear weapons without any cohesiveness."
The 79-year-old Biden made the remarks on Thursday at a reception for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he also discussed the conflict in China, the political situation in the United States, and the war in Ukraine.
President Xi Jinping is a man who understands what he wants but faces a vast, vast array of issues, according to Biden, who was speaking about China and his connection with him. What do we do about that? How do we approach that in light of what is occurring in Russia? Pakistan is another country that I believe to be among the most hazardous in the world. Nuclear arsenals devoid of cohesiveness
During a press appearance on Saturday in the southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he was "surprised" by Biden's statement. He continued, "I think this is precisely the kind of misconception that gets produced when there is a lack of participation.
Bhutto-Zardari cited the March 9 launch of a supersonic missile into Pakistan in her statement, saying, "If there is any issue as to nuclear safety, then they should be directed to our neighbor India, who very recently accidently shot a missile into Pakistani territory."
The 34-year-old insisted that he did not believe that summoning Ambassador Donald Blome would harm relations between Islamabad and the United States.
He declared, "We will maintain the successful trajectory of engagements we are having so far.The incident erupted less than a week after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Pakistan's military head, General Qamar Bajwa, at a high level.
Furthermore, Biden received praise from Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month for calling attention to and pushing the world community to aid the South Asian country in recovering from the disastrous floods that have affected about 30 million people.
‘Unwarranted’
Imran Khan, a former prime minister of Pakistan, criticized Biden's comments on Saturday, saying the US president had drawn a "unwarranted inference."We have one of the most secure nuclear command and control systems, I know since I was prime minister," he tweeted.
"Unlike the US, which has fought wars all over the world, when has Pakistan acted aggressively, particularly after it went nuclear?"Khan claimed that Biden's remarks demonstrated the "complete failure" of the current Pakistani administration, which is headed by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in terms of foreign policy and "its boasts of'reset of relations with US'."
The former prime minister of Pakistan and brother of Sharif criticized the US president for his comments, calling Pakistan a "responsible nuclear state."
He wrote on Twitter that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear power that is completely capable of defending its national interests while adhering to international law and conventions.
Pakistan has progressively turned to its regional partner China for its economic and defense requirements over the past ten years, which has caused a gradual thawing in its relations with Washington.
As Washington accused Islamabad of giving safe shelter to Taliban commanders, ties between the two nuclear-armed countries deteriorated. The charges have been frequently refuted by Pakistan.
After a no-confidence vote was brought by an opposition alliance against Khan's administration, Khan was forced from office in April. Former cricket player turned politician claims that the US is working with the opposition in a plot.
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