Pakistan is ‘country of consequence, not concern’, says caretaker PM Kakar to US President Biden

Davos, January 17

Asserting that Pakistan is not a country of concern and it should be constructively engaged, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday urged US President Joe Biden to acknowledge its role in regional and global matters as the need of the hour.

Kakar is at Davos attending the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) summit. He was speaking with CNBC in an interview on the sidelines of the Summit.

The US last week designated China, North Korea, and Pakistan as “Countries of Particular Concern” for engaging in and tolerating “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

When asked what Pakistan’s message would be to the Biden administration ahead of the February 8 polls, the prime minister said: “Pakistan is a country of consequence, not a country of concern so we Pakistan should be constructively engaged.”

He said Pakistan is a mid-sized power and its actual potential and role needs to be appreciated.

“It is the need of the hour to recognise Pakistan’s role, be it in the region or at the global stage,” The News International newspaper quoted Kakar as saying.

The caretaker prime minister’s statements come a day after two bases of the Balochi militant group Jaish al Adl in Pakistan were targeted in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan province by Iranian missiles and drones.

Responding to a question, the caretaker prime minister emphasised the need for a regional approach to deal with the challenge of terrorism.

When asked about relations with China, Kakar said Pakistan enjoys strategically close relations with Beijing. “He said no matter what happens in the region or anywhere else, nothing can affect Pakistan’s relationship with China,” the report said.