Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said that the incumbent government has decided to summon United States (US) Ambassador Donald Blome for an official demarche on US President Joe Biden’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
In a press conference at the Bilawal House in Karachi today, he went on to say that Pakistan had nothing to do with Biden’s statement. “We will call their ambassador and issue a demarche, but I don’t think this was an official function […] it wasn’t an address to the parliament or an interview.”
“It was a fundraiser […] it was an untraditional conversation in which this sentence was used so it should be [looked at] in this manner, I think we will look at this statement in this way,” he elaborated.
However, at the same time, Bilawal said that the nation should desist from “getting into conspiracy theories”.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets “meet each and every international standard in accordance with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as far as security and safety is concerned”.
“Pakistan is adamant about ensuring its integrity and safety. Security questions, if any, should be raised on the nuclear weapons of India that recently fired a missile into Pakistani territory by accident,” he observed. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also stated that, “This is not only irresponsible and unsafe but raises genuine and serious concerns about the safety of nuclear-capable countries,” he pointed out.
“I am surprised by the remarks of President Biden […] I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement,” he said.
Bilawal responds to Khan’s remarks on the government’s failed foreign policy
Bilawal said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was a liar and it was the government’s responsibility to expose his reality in front of the nation.
The FM claimed that Khan failed to fulfill any of the promises he made to the people. Bilawal criticised Khan’s foreign policy, claiming that it created huge losses for the country and he compromised Pakistan’s bilateral ties with friendly countries.
“Today, we are trying to correct that loss […] we will have to work hard but I’m satisfied that the direction of our foreign policy is now right.”
Going on, he recalled that Imran has passed “irresponsible statements” on the country’s nuclear assets in the past. “When he had to leave the prime minister’s seat, he publicly said that it was better that an atomic bomb was dropped on Pakistan. Find me one example in world history, where a person who is a former premier, says such things about his own country,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that US President Joe Biden has said that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
The remark came about during the US president’s address at a democratic congressional campaign committee reception.
