Pakistan security adviser complains Biden has not called PM Imran Khan since taking office

Pakistan's national security adviser has slammed US President Joe Biden for failing to contact Prime Minister Imran Khan as Washington seeks assistance in preventing the Taliban from seizing control of Afghanistan after US troop withdrawal. The United States' cold shoulder comes as the Taliban has seized large areas of land across Afghanistan in a merciless drive bolstered by the US withdrawal. President Ashraf Ghani's government has publicly accused Pakistan of aiding the Taliban in order to protect its strategic interests in the area, according to reports.

Joe Biden has not called Imran Khan: Pakistan

In recent years, Washington has relied on Pakistan to assist in bringing senior Taliban officials to the negotiating table and securing a deal to leave the country with few attacks on US troops. Despite Imran Khan's requests for a broadening of US-Pakistan relations beyond Afghanistan, Biden has not called him since assuming office this year, Pakistan NSA stated.

The US president hasn't spoken to the prime minister of such a crucial country, which the US claims is make-or-break in some circumstances, in some respects, in Afghanistan — Pakistan is still trying to figure out what's going on, Pakistan's national security adviser, Moeed Yusuf, informed the US media.

Pakistan’s security adviser complains

The apparent diplomatic affront is the latest blow in US-Pakistan relations following their cooperation in the war on terror when al-Qaeda, the Islamist organisation founded by Osama bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Center on 9/11. Pakistan was designated as an official major non-NATO partner by the United States in 2004, in response to Washington's demand for assistance in Afghanistan. However, US administrations have accused Pakistan of harbouring Taliban insurgents on a regular basis since then, charges that Pakistan has refuted.

The US cut $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan during Donald Trump's presidency, accusing Islamabad of nothing but lies and deception said reports. Trump, on the other hand, invited Khan to the White House after striking a deal with the Taliban that included Pakistani assistance. Yusuf was part of a team visiting Washington that included the head of Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency to talk about the Afghan problem.

During Khan's visit, PBS aired an interview with him in which he stated that the US had seriously screwed it up in Afghanistan and that Washington had regarded Islamabad "more like a hired gun." It was one of a flurry of recent criticisms geared at US audiences that some American officials thought came at an odd moment, given Pakistan's efforts to secure a restraining order.

Picture Credit: AP