India, Pak both partners of US with different points of emphasis, says Biden admin
New Delhi: The US has advised Pakistan to improve its ties with India even as it sidestepped New Delhi’s concerns over an upgrade assistance for Islamabad’s F-16s.
“In our discussions today, we talked about the importance of managing a responsible relationship with India,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during an event with Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Asked about External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar calling on the US to review its warming relationship with Pakistan and criticising the authorisation of $ 450 million for the F-16 programme, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “the relationship we have with India stands on its own; the relationship we have with Pakistan stands on its own. We also want to do everything we can to see to it that these neighbors have relations with one another that are as constructive as can be possible.’’
“These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each, and we look to both as partners because we do have in many cases shared values, we do have in many cases shared interests,’’ he elaborated.
The Pakistan-US meeting came hours before Jaishankar met Blinken.
Earlier, Jaishankar had said the US-Pakistan relationship has “neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving the American interests’’ when asked at an open event on the first US arms package for Pakistan since 2018.
Jaishankar on Monday, September 26, had a meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss more information-sharing and logistics cooperation to further improve operational coordination between the US and Indian militaries.
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