Two days after US President Joe Biden said Pakistan 'may be one of the most dangerous nations in the world,' the US Department of State made a U-turn on Monday, stating that "the US is confident of Pakistan’s commitment and its ability to secure its nuclear assets."
"The US has always viewed a secure and prosperous Pakistan as critical to US interests," State Department’s Deputy
Spokesperson Vedant Patel said. He added that the US values our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan."
Patel added that the foreign minister of Pakistan had a bilateral meeting with the Secretary not too long ago. "Counselor Derek Chollet had the opportunity to visit Karachi and Islamabad not too long ago, I think, on the tail end of the summer, as did USAID Administrator Sam Power," Patel said.
"This is a relationship we view as important, and it's something that we're going to continue to remain deeply engaged in. And as it relates to the ambassador, we regularly meet with officials at the foreign ministry, but I don't have anything specific to read out," he added.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre too refused to add anything to Biden's controversial comment. "The United States has no new comments on President Joe Biden’s Pakistan reference. The President has said before and I am not just going to add more. I did mention it on Friday in our press gaggle. Don’t have anything to add to what I said a couple of days ago," she said on Monday.
The Press Secretary was referencing her Friday's statement that Biden’s statement regarding Pakistan’s nuclear assets was "nothing new," adding that he has also made those comments before.
"The President (Biden) views a secure and prosperous Pakistan critical to US interests. So that is something that he has been on Pakistan," the press secretary said to a question during a press gaggle.
This comes as Biden's statement was received with anger in Pakistan. Besides summoning the US envoy, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a strong statement, calling the US president’s comments "factually incorrect and misleading."
"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," Sharif tweeted.
He added that they take these safety measures with the utmost seriousness.
