Beijing: Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that United States (US) better help Pakistan with “real action” instead of commenting on bilateral ties between Islamabad and Beijing. Statement came in response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement, urging Pakistan to seek debt relief from its close partner China as floods devastate country.

“US had better help Pakistani people with real action rather than just commenting on China-Pakistan cooperation,” Wang Wenbin said in a statement.

Blinken promised strong US support for Pakistan as it dries out from floods, which have submerged one-third of country, an area size of United Kingdom. “We send a simple message. We are here for Pakistan, just as we were during past natural disasters, looking ahead to rebuild,” Blinken said after talks in Washington with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“I also urged our colleagues to engage China on some of important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from floods,” Blinken said.

China is a key economic and political partner of Pakistan, pushing ahead with a $ 54 billion “economic corridor” that will build infrastructure and give Beijing an outlet to Indian Ocean, although Chinese interests have also faced attacks from separatists. Washington, whose Cold War alliance with Islamabad frayed has repeatedly charged that China will reap benefits while Pakistan will face unsustainable debt.

Warnings by United States which considers China its preeminent global competitor have repeatedly been brushed aside by Pakistan.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 28 2022

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