Pakistan desires to have a “broad-based and multidimensional” relationship with the United States, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, adding that Islamabad has been transitioning its approach from “geo-strategic” to “geo-economic”. 

The remark came on Wednesday when he met with the country’s newly appointed Ambassador to the US, Sardar Masood Khan, in Islamabad. The US government had recently confirmed Masood’s nomination after weeks of delay.

Despite being a major non-NATO ally, Pakistan shares a complex relationship with Washington, wherein the former is still seen as an important strategic partner. However, Pakistan’s perceived duplicitous role in undermining the US mission in Afghanistan—which ultimately led to a humiliating retreat for the United States— has degraded the ties to a great extent. 

Since coming to the office a year ago, US President Joe Biden hasn’t yet spoken to Prime Minister Imran Khan, a perceived snub that Islamabad has not taken lightly. Other officials suggest the US has diluted its ties with Pakistan to a transactional one, focused on a few security-related issues. 

After the exit from the region and the growing terrorism threat from Afghanistan, Pakistan is likely to remain significant for the US in the coming years. 

“Pakistan is a difficult but necessary partner,” Lieutenant General Michael Kurilla, incoming chief of US Central Command, said this week. “The strategic relationship between the US and Pakistan is complex but necessary,” he added. 

Furthermore, as the country attempts to transition to the geoeconomic approach, the government has been seeking foreign direct investment. Challenges, however, remain, chief among them being the rapidly deteriorating security situation. 

The frequency of attacks, especially in the country’s northwestern tribal region and the southwestern part, has grown significantly in recent months, as insurgents continue executing more audacious attacks by the day, mounting heavy casualties on Pakistani security forces. 

Meanwhile, a top US general last week warned the threat of terrorism has increased in Pakistan. 

“The threat to Pakistan has risen since our departure from Afghanistan,” US Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie, said in his keynote speech at a Washington-based think tank, Middle East Institute.

(SAM)