Discussion between PM, junior minister leaked: Pakistan can’t afford middle ground between US, China, says Khar

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar suggested that Pakistan must stop maintaining a “middle ground” between China and the United States, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

President Biden’s global agenda faces significant challenges as major developing nations seek to evade the intensifying standoff between the United States, Russia and China and, in some cases, exploit that rivalry for their own gain, classified American intelligence assessments show, according to the newspaper.

The documents, among a trove of US secrets, leaked online through the Discord messaging platform, provide a rare glimpse into the private calculations by key emerging powers, including India, Brazil, Pakistan and Egypt, as they attempt to straddle allegiances in an era when America is no longer the world’s unchallenged superpower.

Among the leaked data is a record of an important discussion between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar wherein the two, along with an assistant, were talking about Pakistan’s ties with the United States during the month of March this year.

The record of the discussion on crucial foreign policy, which has been named Discord Leaks, also reveals the prime minister’s conversation on the United Nations’ voting on the Ukraine and Russia conflict, according to the Washington Post.

During the discussion, an assistant advised the prime minister that supporting the resolution could jeopardise Pakistan’s trade and energy deals with Russia and would give the impression of a change in Pakistan’s position. When the UN General Assembly voted on February 23, Pakistan was among 32 countries that abstained.

According to the leaked documents, Khar said that Pakistan should avoid appeasing the West and that the country’s desire to maintain a strategic partnership with the US would sacrifice the full benefits of its original strategic partnership with the long-term friendly nation China.

“According to one of the leaked documents, Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs, argued in March that her country can ‘no longer try to maintain a middle ground between China and the United States’,” the Washington Post wrote in its story.

Pakistani officials, according to the US news outlet, have refused to comment on the matter. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment.

The story by Washington Post, in which the record has been leaked, revolved around the declining support for the US on the war between Russia and Ukraine. The American publication’s story comes at a time when the US has already confirmed that it has no objection to Pakistan’s decision to import oil from Moscow. “Each country is going to make its own sovereign decisions as it relates to its energy supply,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a weekly briefing.

The statement was issued in response to a question regarding Pakistan’s deal with Russia after it placed its first order for crude oil. Accordingly, one cargo ship will dock at the Karachi Port in May.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for two days of closely-watched talks in March this year — a meeting crucial for the region’s altering political and diplomatic atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has declined to comment on the reported conversation between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar that appeared in a US newspaper.

Highly-placed sources in the Foreign Office told The News Sunday evening that in accordance with the established policy, the Foreign Office doesn’t offer any comments on such reported leaks. The government does not discuss such subjects publicly, it said.

In the meanwhile, the government is considering a thorough probe as such “spying” activities are detrimental to the national interests. A decision to initiate a formal probe is likely to be taken this week, the sources added. Another source told this scribe that relevant agencies have been tasked to look into the matter.