Is China worried about Pakistan 'flirting' with US? Defence minister Khawaja Asif responds
Khawaja Asif was asked if Pakistan’s close relationship with Trump through mineral deals, crypto deals and more could jeopardise the relationship with China.
Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif has said China is not worried about Pakistan “flirting” with the US, a day after the US President hosted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir at the White House. He noted that China and Pakistan have a time-tested partnership.
In an interview with British American Journalist, Mehdi Hasan, Asif was asked about the ties Pakistan has with China and the United States. Further, citing the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Hasan noted that Pakistan has sourced around 80 % of its weapons from China over the past four years.
Asif was then asked if Pakistan’s close relationship with Trump through mineral deals, crypto deals and more could jeopardise the relationship with China. Replying to this, he said that they are not worried about it, calling it a 'time-tested relationship’ between Pakistan and China. “I'll just conclude it by saying that China is not worried about our flirtations or whatever you call it," he added.
Asif was also asked, with whom Pakistan sees its "strategic future", the US or China. He said that today and in the future, China has been a very reliable provider of arms of all kinds. He also said that their Air Force, Submarines and planes are from China, and a major portion of the country’s arms are from China, with increasing defence cooperation.
Also read: India slams Shehbaz Sharif's UNGA speech: 'No shame… Pakistan sheltered Osama bin Laden'
“It is much more robust than before, with China... the main reason is unreliability of other sources like the United States of America," he said further. Aif also emphasised that China is a reliable neighbour with whom Pakistan shares a border.
The interview covered several topics, including the Saudi-Pakistan Pact, the imprisonment of former PM Imran Khan, and Pakistan's relationship with the United States. Talking about their relationship with the USA and China, Asif said that their relationship is “transactional or a flirtatious relationship” with the United States for a very long time. The Pakistan defence minister further noted that as flirty as Pakistan is with the US, China was, and will continue to be, Pakistan's top ally. “They're reliable, and they are our neighbours,” he said further.
On Thursday, Trump hosted the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir at the Oval Office in Washington. According to the Pak PMO, US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were also present. Meanwhile, Sharif, during his address at UNGA, praised Trump and called him a "man of peace" while nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize for allegedly brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
When asked if Saudi Arabia is protected by Pakistan's nuclear umbrella under the defence pact, Asif refrained from commenting and shared that the pact has led to the formalisation of defence arrangements between the two countries.
(With ANI inputs)
